In The Shadow of the Beasts
by rylek196
Summary: In the wake of his lover's sacrifice, a young man travels to the Forbidden Lands in the hope of resurrecting her. However, little does he know that in order to do so, he must first give up his humanity... A retelling of Shadow of the Colossus.
1. Prologue

**A/N: New readers and returning ones, welcome to a completely new and improved **_**In The Shadow of the Beasts.**_** First off, let me tell you all why I deleted the original story in the first place. I think you deserve that much. Thing is... the first 'draft' (let's just call it that) was **_**TERRIBLE. **_**Seriously, I cannot even put into words how much it embarrassed me. I was using a crap writing program, I wasn't satisfied with my chapters (for the most part, I think chapter 5 was okay) and worst of all, **_**I barely proofread.**_** Cardinal sin, I know. So, I did what I thought was best: I took it down, **_**but, **_**I had every intention of re-publishing it. And that's exactly what I've done. The prologue through to chapter 4 has been changed and/or improved in every way possible. When I first started this, I didn't even have the game. I am now pleased to say I'm the proud owner of both a PS3 and **_**Shadow of the Colossus.**_** With the obvious exception of cutscenes, I will be using my own gameplay to write this. Now that that's out of the way, I need to tell you that while this **_**is**_** a novelization, don't be discouraged by that. I've added a few scenes and things that weren't in the game, which you'll see as you go along, and I'm treating this as if it were real life. This means there is no regenerating life bar. No infinite arrows. Wander will have to eat, and if he falls off a Colossus, there's a good chance he's going to die. Also, since this game is a work of art (and don't try to deny that fact) it is interpreted differently by different people. What you're reading is merely my own interpretation, and is by no means the be-all, end-all take on the game. So, take it with a grain of salt, play the game for yourself if you haven't already, and find out how **_**you**_** see it. With all that out of the way, enjoy. **

**DISCLAIMER: I am in no way associated with Sony or Team Ico, and in way no claim ownership to the rights of **_**Shadow of the Colossus.**_

**P.S.: I recommend listening to the music from the game to enhance the experience. **

**In The Shadow of the Beasts**

_**By: **_**Rylek196**

**Prologue**

"That place...began from the resonance of intersecting points... They are memories replaced by ens and naught and etched into stone. Blood, young sprouts, sky- and the one with the ability to control beings created from light... In that world, it is said that if one should wish it one can bring back the souls of the dead... ... But to trespass upon that land is strictly forbidden..." -Lord Emon

It was the early hours of the night, and a hawk swooped down into a canyon, enjoying the feeling of the wind on its elegant wings.

As it continued its hunt for the one thing it had on its mind -food- it zoomed past the head of a young man on horseback. The young man only gave the hawk a moment's notice, only moving his head slightly to avoid the animal colliding with his burgundy red hair as it flew past. The bird flew off into the distance, and was soon forgotten by the young man, who instead kept his focus on the path ahead- and, more importantly, the large bundle he carried on his lap. The young man's name was Wander, the horse's, Agro; a black female steed Wander had 'borrowed' from his town's stables in his haste to escape with his precious cargo. Wander was dressed quite simply, wearing a tan tunic and shorts, a shawl-like cloak with a strange design on the front and the back of it was draped over his shoulders. At his side was a sword contained in a sheath strapped to his waist, and a bow, complete with a covered quiver of thirty-five arrows, was strapped to his back. Coming across a gap in the path he was following, Wander backed Agro up a bit, and easily had her leap it. Making sure his bundle was secure, and giving the gap a passing glance as if to spite its existence, Wander continued on. A few hours later, he made it out of the canyon and into a forest. Looking up at the moonlit clouds through the treetops, he could tell a storm was brewing, and hurried on ever faster. By dawn, the storm had erupted, and Wander stopped Agro under an overhanging rock at the exit to the forest. However, after realizing the rain probably wasn't going to stop anytime soon, he pressed on.

After several hours of nonstop riding, he came to a strange, man-made (or at least it seemed to be man-made) structure in the middle of which was an opening just large enough for Agro to fit through. Exiting the narrow space, man and horse were bathed in sunlight as they entered what seemed like another world... Wander gasped when his eyes adjusted to the harsh sunlight, for what lay before him was a land that seemed to go on forever, as well as the largest, most magnificent bridge he had ever seen. _So this is_ _the Forbidden Land_, Wander thought, entranced. No book he had read, no description, could ever have truly captured the beauty of the Forbidden Land. Swallowing his awe, Wander spurred Agro across the bridge, carefully, as it had no guard rail, to the structure that lay at the end of it. As he was crossing, he looked down over the right side of the bridge. All he could see below him was a vast desert, but farther ahead, grasslands and huge bodies of water awaited, if the book was to be believed. Getting to the end of the bridge, Wander was disheartened to see the entrance was sealed. Had his journey been in vain? As if in answer, the door slid ominously upward. Gathering his courage, Wander led Agro down a dark flight of stairs, turning his head when he heard the door closing again. He emerged in a massive, domed building with a hole in the top, letting sunlight illuminate a pool of water at the bottom. A spiralling ramp along the interior wall led to the ground, down which Wander slowly guided Agro.

Once at the bottom, Wander glanced at the pool of water momentarily before entering the Shrine proper. To his left and right were two sets of eight alcoves, and in those alcoves were strange, almost otherworldly in design, statues. Just looking at the statues filled Wander with a mix of both fear and humbleness, like the carvings spoke of a power greater than anything he could imagine.

Rearing Agro to a halt near the alter at the end of the Shrine, Wander noticed another hole in the ceiling illuminating a portion of the floor. However, this light seemed brighter, as if a godly being was outside and holding a flashlight over the hole. Dismounting Agro and briefly stretching his tired leg muscles, Wander unclasped his mysterious bundle from Agro's saddle and slipped it delicately into his arms. The wind blew at the edges of the cloth, revealing a pair of human feet. Wander carried the now-obvious body up the steps, placing it gently upon the alter. He undid the clips on the cloth and dramatically threw it off the body, revealing a beautiful young woman clothed in a white dress. _Mono..._ Wander thought sadly, when Agro's neigh of fright drew him out of his mourning over his dead lover. While his back was turned, five humanoid figures that looked as if they were made of shadow had risen up out of the floor behind him. Placing his hand on the hilt of his sword, Wander slowly unsheathed it and pointed it toward the the figures. The sword was a simple yet elegant looking weapon, the blade thinning a bit three-quarters up the length of its three-foot blade. The shadowy beings blew away like dust on the wind from the light the sword gave off. Suddenly, there was a sound like thunder, and a deep, guttural, male voice that seemed to come from everywhere at once spoke. **"Hmm? Thou possess the Ancient Sword? So thou art mortal..." **

Wander was at first taken aback, but then responded, "Are you Dormin? I was told that in this place at the ends of the world- there exists a being who can control the souls of the dead". Hearing no immediate threat from the voice, Wander sheathed his sword.

"**Thou art correct..." **the voice replied, "**We are the one known as Dormin..." **

Wander gestured at Mono sadly, "She was sacrificed for she had a cursed fate. Please... I need you to bring back her soul."

The voice of Dormin laughed. With his guttural vocals, it was a horrible sound, **"That maiden's soul? Souls that are once lost cannot be recovered... Is that not the law of mortals? With that sword, however..., **Dormin added, **"It may not be impossible."**

Wander looked up at the light in shock. "Really!?" he exclaimed.

"**That is, of course, if thou manages to accomplish what we asketh." **

"What do I have to do?" Wander asked, hope filling his voice.

**"Behold the idols along the wall... Thou art to destroy all of them. But those idols cannot be destroyed - not by the mere hands of a mortal..." **

"Then what am I to do?" Wander asked, confused as to why he simply couldn't just attempt to destroy the statues.

**"In this land, there exist Colossi that are the incarnations of those idols," **Dormin clarified. **"If thou defeat those Colossi - the idols shall fall." **

Wander nodded, "I understand."

**"But heed this...," **the voice warned, "**the price you pay may be heavy indeed."**

Wander clenched his fists in determination and looked back at Mono's lifeless face. _There is no price too great to bring her back... _he thought. Turning back to the light, he nodded, "It doesn't matter," he said without hesitation. The voice seemed pleased at this answer.

**"Very well..." **it boomed,** "Raise thy sword by the light... and head to the place where the sword's light gathers...There, thou shalt find the Colossi thou art to defeat..."** Stepping past the alter onto a platform just outside the Shrine, Wander unsheathed his sword and held it above his head. Light gathered on the flat of the blade, shining straight ahead. Determination blazing in his eyes, Wander walked back inside, ready to begin his task... little did he know, the 'task' was nothing less than genocide...

**A/N: Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know the prologue's mostly the same with some minor changes, but I don't think the prologue was all that broken, so I didn't try that hard to fix it. The changes _really_ get started in chapter 1. Now, lemme get something out of the way real quick. YES, I KNOW, Dormin speaks with a male and female voice simultaneously, blah, blah, blah. For the sake of simplicity (and my own sanity) though, a pronoun had to be picked. And well, since the name 'Dormin' sounds more male than female, I went with male. **


	2. The Minotaur

**Man, did this chapter go through a metamorphosis. I think this chapter is the single biggest improvement to a piece of my writing I've ever done. Even more so than the Reconciliation ending. (Yes, I wasn't kidding on my profile, and Yami no Nokutan has read it, she can back me up). Now I just need Rose Zemlya's permission to publish it on the site... **

**In The Shadow of the Beasts**

_**By: **_**Rylek196**

The First: The Minotaur, Valus

After sheathing his sword, Wander led Agro by the reins down the steps leading out of the Shrine of Worship. Once outside, he mounted his horse, and unsheathing the blade again, held it up to sunlight. The beam appeared, pointing directly south, exactly as it had done in the Shrine.

The young archer took a breath, letting his arm fall to his side, and let it out shakily.

_Really, how hard can this be? _He thought to calm himself._ I go where the the light says I go, kill some creature, repeat fifteen more times, and I'll have Mono back before I know it. _

Later, he would curse himself for thinking something so foolish and arrogant.

Agro snorted impatiently, eager to get moving. "All right, all right," Wander chuckled, "let's get going."

Spurring the horse on with a kick to her sides and a "Yah!" they were off.

Horse and rider were a blur as they tore across the landscape, Wander only giving passing glances to the small hills and a tree standing about halfway between the Shrine of Worship and his destination. In a little over five minutes, they had arrived where the light pointed: a 'U' shaped gap in a mountain. Strangely, there were what seemed to be ancient man-made stairs leading up to the gap, hinting that people may have lived in the Forbidden Lands in ages past.

Spying a moss-covered wall that he was sure he could climb, Wander dismounted Agro, grabbed a hold, and started to haul himself up. Rubbing his hands on his shorts to clean them of dew once he was at the top, he kept going. A little farther up was a small gap, which he effortlessly jumped. Carefully, he crossed some old wooden planks that creaked under his weight, jumped yet another gap, dive-rolled under a fallen pillar, and soon reached the top of the cliff.

Just as he got to a path that led to a wide, straight, dry plain hemmed in by mountains on either side, there was a massive BOOM.

_What the hell? _

Wander froze in place when a huge cloven hoof smashed down in his line of sight. It was followed by another, then came an equally large hand swaying by.

The young warrior couldn't believe his eyes. The beast- a Colossus, he realized- was easily seventy feet tall. The giant creature seemed like a massive statue come to life, but, as Wander noted as he gazed at it speechlessly, it also had organic elements, such as fur.

The Colossus carried in its left hand a club the size of a woodshed. Wander subconsciously moved his eyes down to the puny blade in his hand and gulped.

The beast, having not seen him, continued on its way, leaving a stunned Wander in its wake. "How in- how am I supposed to even _fight_ this thing, let alone _kill _it?!" Wander said aloud, trying to put at least some of his jumbled thoughts into words.

As if in answer, Dormin's voice rang out in Wander's mind.

_**Hold up thy sword to reflect light onto the Colossus. Its vitals shall be revealed...**_

Managing to swallow his fear, Wander stepped out onto the plain, holding up his blade at the retreating form of the Colossus. The beam materialized, shining right where he happened to be pointing it- at the beast's right back-jointed leg. This seemed to show a red area on the creature's calf, but he was too far away to tell for sure.

Still holding up his sword, Wander moved a bit closer. However, by now the Colossus picked up on the fact that something was shining a light on it, and turned around. Its blue, crystal- like eyes became orange when it saw the weapon- wielding human. Wander, still holding up the sword, almost failed to see an odd symbol light up on the beast's head when the beam accidentally hit it.

Once more frozen with fear, Wander could do little more than stare as the beast stomped towards him. He snapped out of his stupor when the beast raised its club to smash him into pulp. He dive-rolled out of the way as the huge weapon descended, missing death by a few feet.

Immediately scrambling to his feet, he ran around the monster, trying to get to its leg. He jumped onto the matted tan fur on the beast's calf, finding a grip. The glowing red spot reappeared, in the centre of it was a teal-coloured crack on the creature's fur. Said creature shook its leg to and fro, an unfortunate Wander being tossed about.

Once the shaking stopped (and once his disorientation passed) Wander jabbed his sword into the creature's leg. It roared in pain, kneeling over,

Wander leaped from its leg to its furry rear end, trying to get to a platform he could see just above him before his grip gave out. Hauling himself up and not giving any thought as to why a living being would have platforms on its back, he took a short breather and kept climbing.

He could see two smaller platforms just above him, so he aimed for those. He clambered up onto the left the left platform, then the monster's hunched neck, going for the head. Wander was sure that mark- that Sigil- had to be a weak point. On top of the creature's head, he crouched down and drove his blade into the glowing spot with all his might. Pulling it out, a geyser of inky black blood gushed out of the wound, drenching Wander's body.

The Colossus gave a bull-like roar and bucked its head back, nearly flinging Wander off. The determined young man held fast, stabbing again. Another geyser of blood showered Wander, who wiped the gore off his face.

He stabbed a third and fourth time, enduring more thrashing from the Colossus. For the final blow, Wander stood up, jumped, and drove his sword downwards, burying it up to the hilt in the monster's skull.

The Colossus gave a roar of agony and started to fall. Wander closed his eyes and braced himself as the ground rushed up to meet the head of the beast. The corpse hit the ground with a BOOM, throwing up a cloud of rock dust.

Breathing heavily, Wander hopped off the beast's head. As he gazed at the dead body, however, he felt a stab of guilt and shame. While by no means harmless, the Colossus was still a living work of art. Then, something odd happened to the corpse; a black shroud covered it, and tentacles of the same colour burst out of it. The tentacles aimed right for a perplexed Wander, seeping into him and making his entire body go numb. The last thing he saw before he passed out was a bright white light...

**A/N: Number of stabs each Colossi will take to kill:**

**Valus: 5 (As you saw quite clearly).**

**Quadratus: 4 (Two stabs for each Major Sigil).**

**Gaius: 5 (Three for the stomach, two for the head).**

**Phaedra: 3**

**Avion: 6 (Two stabs for each Major Sigil).**

**Barba: 6* (Two for each Major Sigil). *Note: Since this is a fairly vanilla fight under normal circumstances, I've added the Hard Mode hand Sigil to Barba.**

**Hydrus: 4 (Not including Minor Sigils).**

**Kuromori: 4 (Two for each Major Sigil). **

**Basaran: Assuming I can beat this guy, 4.**

**Dirge: 5 (Two for the tail Sigil, three for the head).**

**Celosia: 2 **

**Pelagia: Undecided; three, possibly four stabs. (This is a **_**very **_**boring fight, I'm hesitant to have it drag out for too long).**

**Phalanx: 6 (Two for each Major Sigil).**

**Cenobia: 2 or 3**

**Argus: 6* (Three for each Major Sigil). *Note: Argus is an unusual case. For the sake of realism, its palm Sigil will not even exist. The only two Sigils it will have are those on its head and chest.**

**Malus: A full suite of SEVEN STABS. **


	3. Taurus Major

**A/N: Okay, this was a really fun battle to write. Talk about something just coming out of your fingers... Y'know, when I look back on writing this, I'll probably say "Yeah, chapter 2 was a breeze." Wow, am I rambling. Um, anyway, enjoy the improved battle with Quadratus! **

**In The Shadow of the Beasts**

_**By: **_**Rylek196**

The Second: Taurus Major, Quadratus

One of the shadowy humanoid beings that Wander had seen before Dormin made his presence known watched over him as he lay unconscious in the Shrine of Worship. The shadow vanished as Wander began to stir. Had he actually seen it, the course of his adventure would have played out very differently. He may have even abandoned the thought of resurrecting Mono entirely. Sadly, none of these things happened, sealing the fate of many innocent creatures.

Pushing himself to his feet, he looked around in confusion.

_How did I get back here? _He thought, before a small, almost unnoticeable voice in his head told him it was of no importance.

His clothing was no longer covered in the blood of the Colossus, he noticed to his relief, although it was slightly dirtier from rock dust. Sheathing his sword as he walked up to Mono, he brushed a lock of hair out of her face and smiled when he saw she looked a tiny bit healthier.

Suddenly the ground rumbled like an earthquake was hitting, Wander whirled around to see the Idol representing the first Colossus glowing. With a deafening KA-BOOM, the statue exploded into a shower of dust and debris.

"Well," Wander said to himself with a sense of finality, "That's that. One down, fifteen to go." Just as the words passed his lips, the guttural voice of Dormin boomed forth.

"**Thy next foe is… In a seaside cave… It moves slowly… raise thy courage to defeat it…"**

The voice faded out of existence again, leaving Wander be.

Walking outside and pulling out his sword, he held it up to the light. This time though, the light merely reflected off the blade, scattering in different directions. The sun, also, had moved in the sky, indicating he was not merely teleported back to the Shrine.

_Strange... _he thought, referring to both the sun's movement and his sword's behaviour, but then an idea struck him.

He turned around, facing the interior of the Shrine, and held his sword up again. The beam shone straight into the Shrine, pointing north and dissipating further in due to lack of light.

_Well, obviously I can't_ _go __through walls, so that must mean I have to go _around _the Shrine to get to the next Colossus. _He thought.

Wander went back into the Shrine, past the alter where Mono lay, taking note of a new addition: A single, pure white dove had landed around the alter. Shrugging to himself, Wander called for Agro, receiving a neigh of reply.

His stolen steed galloped into the Shrine, stopping right in front of him. He mounted her, riding down the steps and into the Forbidden Lands once again.

Going around the Shrine to the right, he stopped when he was under the bridge. From his vantage point on the ground, Wander could truly marvel at its sheer enormity. The legs dwarfed the first Colossus, rising up hundreds of feet into the air. He couldn't even fathom what would happen to someone if they were to actually fall off the bridge proper.

As soon as he thought this, an image took over his mind. Wander saw himself, plummeting from the top of the bridge and hitting the ground. Needless to say, not much of his body was left.

Wander shook his head to drive the gruesome mental picture away, but he couldn't get rid of the eerie feeling the vision had wrought. Wondering where in the world the the vision had come from, he spurred Agro on. A little farther ahead stood two carved stone structures that looked as if they had once belonged to an archway, one that had long since crumbled.

_Yet more proof, _thought Wander, _that people lived here at one point in time._

The destroyed archway stood watch over a natural rock bridge, which Wander and Agro crossed. Across the bridge was a sort of 'fork in the road.' One path led off to a vast plain, while the other led to a seaside cove. It was a no-brainier where the second Colossus was.

Wander rode Agro down the gently sloping path, and soon her hooves kicked up sand. Seeing a huge, cracked wall behind which there was a cave, Wander led Agro to it.

Arriving at the wall, a loud BOOM sounded, like something was pounding on the wall from the inside.

Wander froze. Another BOOM was heard. All of a sudden, the wall exploded outwards, sending chunks of rock flying. Wander's heart nearly stopped.

_Oh... my... God..._

The Colossus that emerged was easily three times the size of the first. It looked like some ungodly combination between a mammoth and a bull. It only had one horn, the other having long since been broken off by an unknown force. Like the first however, it seemed to ignore both man and horse, simply walking around aimlessly on its four legs.

Knowing he had to get its attention, Wander stuck his forefinger and thumb in his mouth and whistled at it. The noise caused the animal-like Colossus to turn its head towards him. Upon seeing the puny man, its blue eyes turned orange. It gave a bellowing, screeching roar and made right for Wander.

In an effort to confuse it, Wander had Agro circle the beast. Soon the creature grew enraged at the endless turning, and raised its front hooves to smash Wander and Agro into the sand. Wander immediately steered Agro away from the monster when he saw it rearing up.

The hooves came down hard, throwing up a cloud of sand. Luckily, Wander and Agro were already a short distance away, so they weren't crushed, though the pair still felt the shockwave.

However, Wander could have sworn he saw something glowing on the underside of the hooves as the creature raised them. He steered Agro towards the bull-mammoth, circling it again, this time trying to bait it into raising its hooves.

Unfortunately, it had gotten wise to this tactic, and lashed out at horse and rider with its rear left leg when Agro sped past. The kick missed, so all this did was confirm Wander's hunch:there _were _glowing spots on the bottom of the creature's hooves.

_Those have to be weak points! _Wander thought jubilantly. Jumping off Agro's saddle- he needed to be on foot for this- he ran around to the beast's front.

He yelled at the creature to get it to turn and face him. The bull-mammoth, having been driven into a frenzy by anger, turned and raised its front hooves.

This was exactly what Wander had planned it would do. As the creature raised its front hooves, he whipped his bow off his back, undid his quiver and notched an arrow.

The arrow hit right where he had aimed it, burying its sharp point into the glowing spot on the beast's right foreleg. With a screech in pain, the bull-mammoth lowered its leg onto the ground. Its matted fur was now within reach.

Wander ran up to it, putting away his bow and closing his quiver as he went. He jumped onto the fur, his hands finding purchase. The beast seemed to know something with malicious intent was climbing it, so it shook its foot to dislodge the arrow there.

After climbing the beast's leg, Wander pulled out his sword, holding it skyward. The beam pointed at the beast's back, lighting up a Sigil there, though Wander couldn't see this.

Of course, getting to the back of the creature was no easy feat. It constantly shook side to side and on top of that, there were bony ridges all along its back that Wander had to scramble over. Eventually, he did make it to the bull-mammoth's backside, where a Sigil awaited. The Colossus let out an animalistic roar as the Ancient Sword was plunged into the glowing mark.

Wander tried to avoid the blood geyser, but accidentally swung into it as the beast shook wildly. Scrunching his face in revulsion at being covered in the substance, he stabbed again. He pulled the sword out of the bull's flesh, getting covered in black blood as he did so, and saw the Sigil vanish... but the beast remained alive!

"Wha-" Wander thought aloud, but the monster cut him off by roaring and thrashing more violently than ever before. This time, he was nearly shaken off. He regained his grip at the last second, hauling himself back onto where the Sigil once was.

_There must be one more- there has to be! _Wander thought.

Getting unsteadily to his feet, he held his sword up to the light, towards the beast's head. The beam appeared, guiding directly to the Colossus' head. _There!_

Wander began to run along the beast's back in order to reach its head. Doing so, however, was easier said than done. The bull-mammoth, knowing the human was approaching its death mark, thrashed about, nearly dislodging Wander several times. This also had the side effect of making its bony ridges that much harder to climb over.

Finally making it to the top of the creature's head, Wander quickly stabbed twice more, ending the creature. The Colossus let out one last roar and toppled over onto its side, Wander hanging on for dear life the whole way down. As he jumped off the body, he felt an overwhelming sense of guilt.

Looking back at it, he thought, _It was just an innocent animal... and I killed it..._

Then, to his horror, he saw the black shroud cover the corpse... and the tentacles headed right for him!

Wander couldn't even start to run away before they seeped into him, making his body go numb again.

He saw the white light, but this time, before consciousness left him, he heard a small noise, like someone trying to talk...

**A/N: In case any of you are wondering exactly _how_ Wander closes his quiver, I'll explain as best I can here. Basically, his quiver has a leather top with a string on it. The string is wrapped around a button on the quiver to close it. That's how it works.**


	4. Shattering the earth

**A/N: This is an unusual case, this chapter. When I deleted the original, I didn't realize I didn't have the Gaius battle saved on any of my files on my memory stick. Oh, I had part of the chapter, but the fight was gone. Ah, well, I hope you like this new fight. Word of warning, though, kiddies: this chapter contains some gore and language. **

**In The Shadow of the Beasts**

_**By: **_**Rylek196**

The Third: Earth Knight, Gaius

A second shadowy humanoid figure had joined the first as Wander once more lay passed out in the Shrine. Behind them, the Idol of the bull-mammoth Colossus glowed and exploded. The noise roused the young man, who made it tiredly to his feet. His muscles were starting to ache, but during the battles against the Colossi, he was too full of adrenaline to notice. Now though, the pain was beginning to set in.

Not seeing the already- vanished shadow beings, Wander looked up at Dormin's light as the voice spoke its piece.

"**Thy next foe is... A giant canopy soars to the heavens... The anger of the sleeping giant shatters the earth..."**

Wander didn't know what 'a giant canopy soars to the heavens' meant, and he certainly didn't like the sound of 'the anger of the sleeping giant shatters the earth'. Enquiring to Dormin about the former part, he received no answer.

Huffing in frustration, he walked up to Mono again. When he approached the alter, he scared two doves doves hopping around it.

_Wait- two? _Wander thought.

Looking up, he saw that yes, there were in fact two doves now flying in the air above his head.

"Interesting..." he said, but gave it no more thought as he stepped outside. The sun had well and truly began its descent, having reached its zenith when Wander crossed into the Forbidden Lands.

_I'll have to find the next Colossus quickly. _

For the third time while he was outside the Shrine, he held up his sword. The light behaved the same way it had last time, so Wander faced the inside of the Shrine. Instead if straight north, the beam this time was a bit more northwestern.

Wander found Agro prancing about just outside the Shrine, he pulled himself into the saddle and took off. He dreaded going underneath the white bridge again, fearing another vision if he did. He tried to ride quickly... but it was no use. As soon as he passed underneath it, the vision took hold of his mind, pulling him away from reality...

The image was much clearer this time. He felt the wind rush past him, momentarily chilling his skin, then he hit the ground with a THUMP. It didn't stop there, however. The aftermath was shown to him in far greater detail. He could see shattered bits of bone sticking out of torn flesh, brain matter leaking from a skull crushed beyond conceivable repair...

Wander furiously shook his head back and forth, attempting to rid his mind of the disturbing picture, coming back to the real world.

He then saw, to his horror, that he was riding Agro right for an ancient pillar overlooking the natural bridge!

Tugging harshly on the reins, he brought her to a complete stop. Quickly dismounting the horse, he breathed heavily, placing a hand against the pillar for support. He could feel the bitter taste of bile in his mouth as he recalled the last few moments.

Before had been incredibly rattling, yes, but it was nothing compared to this. This was so flat-out grisly that just thinking about it almost made him spew the contents of his stomach all over the ground.

_Why... the fuck... does this keep happening? _He thought, still reeling from the mental snapshot of his broken corpse.

Agro looked at him, concern seeming to glimmer in her brown eyes. Wander gave her a weak smile in return. Though he had only recently 'acquired' the horse, he was fast growing a bond with her.

Grimacing as he swallowed vomit, he said, "I'll be fine, girl. Just got a little... distracted there."

Agro gave him a look that said she wasn't buying it, but he mounted her anyways.

Crossing the rock bridge, and looking over the right side, Wander saw something almost as disturbing as the vision.

The lifeless body of the bull-mammoth still lay where he had slain it. Only, it wasn't so much a corpse now as it was part of the landscape. Shrubbery grew on it, and rock had partially encased it.

Wander looked away, feeling immensely sorrowful.

Continuing on, he rode across a sandy plain, all the while following the rapidly-diminishing beam from his sword.

A light mist settled in the air as he entered a rocky path. Coming out of it, Wander's eyes widened taking in the sight before him.

A massive, slightly tilted circular platform of rock jutted up hundreds of feet into the air in the middle of a vast lake. Wander dismounted his horse, taking a waterskin from her saddlebag.

Man and horse both drank their fill from the cool lake water. _I'll have to remember this place. _Wander thought as he filled the waterskin and put it back in the saddlebag.

He left Agro on the lake's shore, knowing horses couldn't swim, and waded into the water. Shivering at the temperature, he began to swim towards a stone ramp that went alongside the platform.

He took a moment to stretch his biceps after reaching the ramp, then ran up it.

To Wander's dismay, the ramp didn't go all the way to the platform. Rather, there was a single stone stone block held aloft by a pillar he would have to jump to.

Aiming for the ledge snaking around the block, he jumped. Wander grunted as his hands found purchase. He shimmied around the block, sizing up the gap between it and the lip of the platform. It was easily ten feet across. His quadriceps screamed in protest as he kicked off the block, but he made the jump, grabbing the edge of the platform.

Hauling himself up with some difficulty, Wander took a second to catch his breath after his two leaps of faith. Walking cautiously along the outer rim of the platform, he eventually found a set of stairs he could use to get to the flat top of the platform.

As he ascended them, he could see a massive, unmoving shape lying on the sandy ground. Wander realized this was his opponent. But, for a single, naive moment, he assumed the Colossus was already dead.

...Then it moved.

Wander's face paled as the humanoid Colossus rose up, towering much higher than the first, until it reached its full height of nearly a hundred feet tall. Its feet were strangely spherical, and parts of it were, like the first two, covered in fur, this time it was silver- grey.

Grey stone also covered it parts of it, to the point that when it was lying down, it looked like a collapsed building. Its left (Wander's right) arm ended in a 'hand' that was nothing more than a jumbled mess of fur and stone blocks, like the end of a mace or flail, while its right had no hand. Instead, the arm ended in a fearsome, sword- like pillar of stone longer than one of the knight- like Colossus' legs.

Said pillar was being used to support its weight as it stood up. Chunks of rock fell off the beast as it rose, implying it had been at rest here for a very long time.

Wander suddenly felt a pang of guilt at what he had to do, but that quickly disappeared as the Colossus turned to face him.

Unlike the first, Wander wasn't paralysed with fear; he just started running. Chancing a look over his shoulder, he immediately dashed to the right as he saw the creature wind up a swing with its weapon. While the attack thankfully missed, the impact shockwave still knocked him off his feet. Groaning, he pushed himself back up.

The knight, now struggling to pull its blade from the sandy earth, moaned in pain as it was shot in the lower back by an arrow from Wander. It ripped its sword from the ground, only to have a Sigil be lit up on its abdomen when it whirled around.

Wander shut his quiver as the Colossus stomped towards him. The beast raised its sword in a stabbing motion, getting ready to crush Wander with a more precise strike. Wander's eyes widened and he sprinted out of the way when he registered what the knight was about to do.

The attack again missed, giving Wander the time he needed to properly observe the creature.

The only way to climb it seemed to be to go up its sword and get onto its arm, but Wander noticed a problem with this. Halfway up the beast's sword arm was a stone 'cuff' (for lack of a better term), that prevented climbing beyond its wrist.

The knight pulled its blunt blade from the ground, Wander started to run, gritting his teeth in aggravation.

_So how am I supposed to kill this thing when I can't even climb it?! _He thought angrily, but the voice of Dormin came to the rescue.

_**The armor it wears seems brittle... **_said the voice in his mind, before fading.

_Wait, what? _Wander took a closer look at the cuff as he ran. Now that he inspected it closely, the front of it appeared to be black and crumbling.

_Well, that's that part down, now I just need a way to break it._

Fortune must have been with him that day, for he saw something he hadn't before: A plate of stone set in the centre of the platform. He didn't care why this was there, he just needed to know if he could use it somehow.

Sending an arrow flying past the Colossus' head to distract it, he made a break for the plate. Once he got there, he knelt down, shutting his quiver and tapping the rock with a knuckle.

_If the Colossus hits this with its sword, the resonance could... that's it! _

Wander whistled at the knight to regain its attention. The beast stomped towards him, but he held his ground. When the knight raised its sword, he took off, running faster than he ever had. The air screamed as the pillar descended.

The Colossus realized too late it had tricked, its sword hit the stone dead- on... And the price it paid for failing to kill Wander was far greater this time.

The front of the cuff exploded, the creature looking at its arm with an seemingly bewildered expression. Wander cheered in joy at the sight, but his expression became determined quickly.

After all, only half the battle had been won.

He baited the knight into striking the earth a third time, running up the sword- pillar while it was stuck. Quick as a flash he climbed the Colossus' arm, taking a short rest on the remnants of the cuff.

Jumping from the cuff to the platform that circled the beast's waist was difficult, but he managed. Stabbing the Sigil took quite a bit of effort and time. With every step the hundred- sixty ton Colossus took, Wander flailed about. It seemed the only time he could reliably get stabs off was when the beast stopped walking to shake.

After three stabs, the Sigil vanished, and Wander once again was covered in black blood.

Adrenaline coursing through him, he jumped back onto the Colossus' sword- arm, climbing to the head, where he was sure the death Sigil awaited.

He plunged his sword into the glowing spot, clinging on for dear life as the beast tried to dislodge him. Right as he prepared the final blow, the setting sun bathed everything in a warm orange glow, causing the Colossus' fur to shimmer like it really _was_ made of silver. The creature's would- be murderer hesitated.

Did he really have the right to slay such a majestic being, even if it _had _tried to kill him? This feeling stayed with him as he stabbed down, finally ending the battle.

The knight let out one more moan and began its ninety- seven foot fall. Unfortunately for Wander, the Colossus had walked to edge of the platform just before he killed it, and its head was now dangling over the lip.

Wander hung there, the lake so far below, his tired muscles screaming. The black shroud covered the creature's corpse.

_Oh, no..._

Wander frantically tried to pull himself up, but it was too late. The tentacles stabbed into his back, his body going numb.

There was no scream as his unconscious, limp body plunged into the lake below...

**A/N: I warned you, didn't I? I don't even know **_**why**_** exactly I put that in there, just me being morbid, I guess :p. Anyway, it will be explained in the second-to-last chapter why this is happening to Wander (unless you've played the game and have already figured it out, in which case I respectfully ask you to not spoil it), assuming, of course, I make it that far. *crosses fingers***


	5. Dark dreams

**A/N: Some mildly disturbing content ahead.**

* * *

**In The Shadow of the Beasts**

_**By: **_**Rylek196**

The Fourth: Equus Prime, Phaedra

Three shadowy beings who were nearly invisible in the dark of night kept watch over Wander as he lay in Dormin's circle of light. The Idol of the third Colossus glowed brightly in the gloom, and exploded.

Wander shook his head, groaning as he awoke. Barely making it to one knee, he winced as his now stiff muscles ached. He had officially pushed himself to the limit. Fighting no less than three enormous monsters non-stop was all he could take.

His limbs were more sore than he could ever remember them being, his eyelids were lead weights, and his empty stomach cried out for sustenance.

Dormin, however, did not seem to realize or care about the condition Wander was in, beginning to speak.

"**Thy next foe is..." **he began, but was cut off by Wander. "Dormin, please... not now..."

Being interrupted was not something Dormin was used to, but he held his anger in check. Given his situation, he could do nothing to Wander. Instead, he opted to act confused, replying, **"What..? Dost thy not wish to complete thy task?" **

"I do," Wander said. "More than anything in the world... but I'm so exhausted... Besides," he added, "it's dark out, I wouldn't be able to find the next Colossus even if I tried."

"**Hmm... very well," **Dormin said, **"Thou shall continue on the morrow..." **

Wander called for Agro in a hoarse voice, knowing the equine wouldn't be too far away. Sure enough, Agro came galloping into the Shrine not five seconds later.

The horse, sensing how tired her new master was, lay down next to him. Curling up against her, Wander closed his eyes and within minutes, was fast asleep.

...However, all was not well in his dreams...

As Wander slept, a twisted nightmare took shape in his mind.

He saw himself on that fateful day, struggling against the guards as they held him back. He screamed out in protest when Lord Emon, a respected priest and shaman in his village, gave his ritualistic speech, claiming Mono was 'cursed'. The shaman had said that he had received a vision from the gods, and they told him if the young woman was allowed to live, she would bring doom to them all, bearing 'children of the devil'.

Wander then watched, horrified and helpless, as his unconscious lover's neck was snapped.

Wander's sleeping face contorted in agony. The nightmare kept going, pulling him down deeper into despair...

He finally escaped the guard's grips on his arms after the deed was done. Running up to Mono, he cradled her corpse, kneeling there for hours, crying, sobbing until he almost dehydrated himself.

The scene changed then, showing his theft of the Ancient Sword and Agro. Then he saw the earth-covered bodies of the three innocent Colossi, dead by his own hand. All of a sudden, the scene changed again. He was now looking at a towering monolith of a living being yards away.

"_**This is the end for you, foolish child." **_A thundering voice echoed in his mind, and it occurred to him the beast was speaking. _**"There is no beyond for you..." **_The voice continued, and without warning, the beast raised its arm and shot a bolt of white- hot energy out of its palm at him. The bolt streaked across the sky at blinding speed, leaving no time to dodge.

Wander had just enough time to scream before the bolt hit him with the force of an artillery shell, simultaneously blasting him to pieces and burning the pieces to ash...

Wander woke with a scream, soaked in cold sweat. His exclamation of fear caused Agro to also awaken with a frightened neigh. He breathed heavily, still in Dormin's light where he had fallen asleep. To make sure he was still in one piece, he patted himself down. Looking around frantically, he saw he he was still in the Shrine... and still alive.

_Then... I'm not dead... But by God, that seemed so real... _

His eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness outside Dormin's light circle. It was still nighttime, the sun having yet to show its face on the horizon.

Wander rubbed the sleep from his eyes and wiped the sweat off his forehead, reassuring Agro he was alright. The horse simply snorted and lay down again, closing her eyes.

Knowing he wasn't going to get any more sleep, he pulled the Ancient Sword from its sheath, looking over the blade and thinking.

In the days following Mono's sacrifice, he had plunged into study, secretly going over every restricted book he could get his hands on. Several made vague references to a 'Forbidden Land', one which housed the power to resurrect the dead. But, they held no concrete information. Right as he was about to give up, he had found it.

In the oldest book he could find, the power was named. The book spoke of a deity called Dormin, who, according to the tome, could reverse even death. It also made mention that the Ancient Sword was critical to the process, so Wander had stolen it in the dead of night. Best of all, the book contained detailed instructions on how exactly to get to the Forbidden Lands. Just to make sure he couldn't be followed easily, he had committed the guide to memory, then burned the book.

Abruptly, his stomach growled, drawing him out of his reverie. Having not eaten for a full day (he had exhausted his supply of provisions a few hours before he crossed the bridge), he was famished. Standing up, he walked to the steps leading out of the Shrine.

Outside of Dormin's circle of light, it was pitch-black. Wander looked back into the Shrine. Dormin's light was casting spooky shadows onto the statues of the remaining Colossi, making them seem demonic.

He sighed and walked back to a sleeping Agro. Obviously, he couldn't go outside at this hour, so he would just have to put up with the hunger for now. Leaning up against Agro again, he thought now about the Forbidden Land. One thing that unnerved him was that there was no noise from any wildlife- no hoots from owls, no chirps of crickets or other insects, _nothing._

_And then there's that nightmare... _Wander thought. _Why is this happening to me? First visions whenever I go under the bridge, now this..._

_Do not trouble yourself over such trivial matters_, a voice in his mind said. Wander froze, then he relaxed. Something about the voice he found incredibly soothing, so he listened to it without a second thought.

After a few more hours, the sun began to appear on the horizon, warming the earth and illuminating the world. Dawn had arrived, and Wander could finally see more than what Dormin's light allowed him to.

Dormin, for his part, began to speak, sounding somewhat impatient, though this was lost on Wander, who barely heard him over his rumbling stomach.

"**Thy next foe is... In the land of vast green fields... Rows of guiding graves... It is a giant indeed, but fearful, it is not..."**

Dormin's voice faded like it was so wont to do, leaving Wander with yet another cryptic clue.

Wander wasn't too keen on taking down a Colossus without food in his belly, so instead of holding his sword up when he went outside, he surveyed the landscape with his eyes- and then he saw it.

The 'it' was something he had almost completely ignored on his way to the first Colossus, but now it held far greater value. What Wander had his gaze fixated on was the tree that stood proud and tall halfway to where he had fought the first Colossus.

_If that tree is what I think it is..._

Wander turned and ran to Agro, calling her name to wake the sleeping horse all the while. The equine lazily got to her feet and stretched, letting out a surprised neigh when Wander climbed into her saddle.

"Let's go girl," Wander said. "I think I've found us breakfast."

Agro tore across the plain, little more than a blur as she ran. Arriving at the tree, Wander was overjoyed to see his hunch had been correct. The tree was a fruit- tree, and hanging from its branches were several pieces of fruit that looked like oversized pears.

Quickly stretching his still sore muscles, Wander climbed the moss- covered back of the tree, shaking the branches when he got to the top, causing fruit to rain down.

He got down from the tree, ravenously starting to devour the sweet- tasting fruit, juice dripping down his chin.

A white- tailed lizard, attracted to the smell of the fruit, crawled from its nest to nibble on it, and was promptly impaled on the blade of Wander's sword.

Several smaller trees surrounded the large one, Wander used some wood off of these to make a fire. Taking a piece of flint from Agro's saddlebag, he struck the blade of his sword against it, creating a shower of sparks.

The sparks caught on the pile of makeshift kindling, and soon a fire was going. The dead lizard was roasted and eaten in short order.

Now full of fruit and meat (and after sharing some with Agro), Wander held his sword up to the light.

When he was trying to make the beam appear though, he saw something unusual. It seemed to be a pillar of light, spearing up into the sky, right where Wander had fought the first Colossus._ First the bodies become one with the earth, now this? _Wander thought._ Just how much stranger can these things get?_

Finally finding a direction that made the beam show up (roughly southeast) he mounted Agro and headed off.

Meanwhile, in the Shrine, Dormin sensed the pair ride off. _**This mortal is troublesome... **_Dormin thought to himself. _**Still... he cannot be allowed to die. After all, he is the only key to our release...**_

Finding the Colossus' lair was a simple matter; the light pointed to a narrow opening in a cliff wall.

The sword's light beam dimmed as soon as Wander entered the path. This, along with the thick fog, had him extremely concerned about getting lost.

It turned out he needn't have worried, the path was entirely linear.

The pair emerged at a hill under a huge overhanging rock that overlooked a misty, verdant alcove covered in dark green grass. Wander carefully rode Agro down a narrow path jutting out of a rock wall to his right.

When he got to the bottom, the sound of rushing water met his ears, possibly from a nearby waterfall or small river, though he couldn't see either.

Also of note were stone mounds, four of them, all placed in a cross pattern. _Could these be... burial mounds? _Wander thought, peering into one. The mound had an entrance, a set of stairs leading down into the earth could be seen. The stairs led to tunnels that could only be catacombs.

Trying to shake off the sense of unease that thought brought with it, he kept riding. The uneasiness tripled when he saw what he presumed to be his opponent. Currently, the Colossus sat unmoving on a rectangular stone plate set in the ground. Wander's unease turned to nervousness as he got closer, then to full-on panic when the creature opened its eyes and stood up.

The Colossus this time resembled a horse. Just that description, however, would be doing this creature an injustice.

Its head loosely resembled a ceremonial dragon mixed with a horse; the 'feet' on the ends of its stone legs were pointed like the ends of spears. Two braids of greenish fur hung from either side of its head, the same fur ran in thick stripe along its back, and on its underbelly, a ribcage of stone was left grotesquely exposed.

Wander turned Agro around and rode her to the nearest mound as the Colossus lumbered toward them. He dismounted her quickly and ran into the tunnel, as much as the thought of going into catacombs disgusted him.

Much to his surprise and relief, there were no skulls to found in the tunnel, just grey stone walls. Placing one hand on the wall to avoid getting disoriented in the darkness, he continued onwards.

The ceiling shook and dust fell as the Colossus tramped about above him, making him nervous the tunnel would cave in. When that didn't happen, and the shaking stopped, he sighed in relief. He kept going, his hand still on the wall, until he saw a ray of light. Following this new found illumination, he came across a flight of stairs, identical to the ones he taken to get into the tunnel system.

Emerging out from underground, he peeked over the lowest part of the hill. The Colossus was still stomping around the north hill, apparently trying to flush him out. After a few moments, it squatted down, lowering its head to the tunnel entrance.

As it did this, its short stone tail hung low to the ground, just enough for Wander to grab if he jumped. Wander now had his way onto the beast. He ran out of his hiding place, sprinting quickly but quietly across the field to the north hill.

The Colossus was too engrossed in searching for Wander to notice its foe was running up behind it. The beast abruptly felt a weight on its tail, lifting it up again. Wander clamoured up the two handholds on the horse-creature's stone tail. The beast shook its rear end from side to side as Wander began climbing the fur above its tail. Wander gripped the fur ever tighter as he when he started swinging back and forth.

In due time, the horse eased its thrashing, allowing Wander to climb higher up the beast's back. He quickly reached a point on the monster where climbing vertically was no longer needed, so he unsteadily stood up, holding his sword up to the sunlight.

The beam shone straight ahead like the path of an arrow to its target, illuminating a teal crack on the horse's neck. _Another one of these? _Wander thought, right before the Colossus reared up on its hind legs, as if sensing a weak point had been unveiled; Wander cried out as he toppled backwards, losing his footing and falling. He reached out blindly with one hand as he fell, just managing to find a grip on the creature's fur.

He screamed in pain, his arm nearly being wrenched from its socket when his fall abruptly stopped. The beast's front legs landed back on the ground with an impact that shook the earth and made his teeth rattle in his skull.

Wander swore as the surface he was currently on became flat again, he had lost much of his progress in moving up the Colossus' back thanks to his fall.

Rubbing his wounded shoulder, he winced when a sharp pain shot though it at his touch. The horse- creature shook again, thrashing from side; luckily, Wander crouched down, grabbing fistfuls of fur in either hand, anchoring his body in place. The strain on his left shoulder was immense, but he grit his teeth, pushing the pain to the back of his mind, waiting for the beast to stop shaking.

It only lasted five seconds, but to Wander, it felt like five years. Once the Colossus stopped shaking, he began moving towards the beast's neck again. He made it there without any more major incidents, quickly stabbing the glowing crack. The horse-creature let out a shrill, whistle- like cry of pain, followed by what sounded like a snarl. Wander jammed his sword into the mark once more; this time, the Colossus lowered its neck, giving him access to the top of its head.

Predictably, the Major Sigil was there, it lit up automatically when Wander got close. Wander crouched down, raised his blade and drove it down with all his strength. However, it felt strange to be killing a horse-like creature in the presence of a real horse, as Agro was still on the ground. The beast gave again its shrill cry, shaking its head to and fro. Wander clung on, despite the pain in his shoulder, stabbing down again. He pulled out his blade, getting soaked in inky black blood. In a sick way, he was becoming used to being covered in the stuff, even if the thought made his stomach churn. Thrusting his blade into the Sigil once more, it was over.

A geyser of black blood erupted from the beast's head, the Colossus giving one last cry. Its back right leg buckled, its eyes went blank and dark, then it toppled over onto its side. Once the head was on the ground, Wander jumped off the corpse. _Another _animal _killed. _He thought_ Why am I doing this? Is it really worth it? _

Before he could explore that train of thought any further, the black shroud covered the horse- creature's body, the tentacles headed right for him. He turn around just in time to see a black blur, then his body went numb. He saw the white, heavenly light and heard another noise. This time, it sounded like a baby taking it's first breaths...

* * *

**A/N: Oh, that nightmare sequence. Back when I first drafted ideas for this, that was one of the original snippets I wrote down on paper. It was used in its original form in the first version of this story, but now I've added a ton more detail. There will be more nightmares. Trust me when I say this, I'm gonna put Wander through mental HELL. Also, about the day/night cycle: I decided on doing this before I even wrote this story the first time. Frankly, I don't care that the Forbidden Land is cursed with 'eternal sunlight/daytime' or whatever. Simple fact is, no matter where you are on any world, the sun's gonna go down, and besides, Wander needs sleep. Remember, he's a human being (albeit one with barely any conscience) in this, not a video game character. **


	6. Taking to the air

**A/N: This chapter has not been revised, and it probably never will be. Anyway, this chapter is still dedicated to Yami no Nokutan, who actually **_**did**_** write that Zelda songfic I mentioned the first time. Unfortunately, some jackass (who, by the way, I will kill if I ever find them) reported it ('copyrighted lyrics' apparently, which is BS, as she put a disclaimer), resulting in its undeserved deletion. By the way, listening to A Despair-Filled Farewell is pretty much required to get the full effect from this chapter.**

* * *

**In The Shadow of the Beasts**

_**By: **_**Rylek196**

The Fifth: Delta Phoenix, Avion

Four shadows now stood around Wander as he lay in the Shrine yet again. Behind the group, in the hallway containing the alcoves with the Colossi Idols, the Idol of the fourth Colossus exploded to pieces.

Agro walked up the stairs to the alter where Mono lay. Wander got up from lying on the ground, noticing Agro. Once more, the shadowy figures had disappeared just before he could see them. He rubbed his still-sore shoulder, starting to question exactly _how_ she was able to make it back to the Shrine so fast, but before he could even process that thought, the voice silenced it.

_Why is it of any importance how your steed gets back here before you do? _The voice whispered in his mind, louder than ever before._ It means you can have a convenient means of travel to the next Colossus as soon as _you_ get back, _the voice added. Wander couldn't argue with that logic, and for some strange reason, he didn't want to. Walking up beside Agro, he patted the side of her head, gazing lovingly down at Mono's peacefully resting face. Seeing her condition had improved, he smiled. _I promise you, Mono, you'll be back with me soon, _he thought.

A sudden noise caused Agro to neigh in fear; she backed up a few steps. Wander turned around as the guttural voice of Dormin echoed throughout the Shrine.

"**Thy next foe is... **

**It casts a colossal shadow across a misty lake... as it soars through the** **sky... **

**To reach it is no easy task..." **

As was always the case with Dormin, his voice faded, leaving Wander be. _'Soars through the sky', hmm? _Wander thought. Going outside and holding his sword up to the light, he saw the beam once more pointed east.

However, as he held his blade skyward, his shoulder gave an annoying twinge of pain._ I'll have to be more careful with this fight. _ Mounting Agro, he once more made for the east. Once the horse was gone from the Shrine, four doves landed around the alter where Mono lay. As Agro tore across the landscape at a breakneck pace, a bird, possibly an eagle, soared above horse and rider for a short distance before screeching and flying off.

To Wander, the bird's cry sounded almost mournful, like it was trying to warn him, but he shrugged off the ominous feeling. He continued travelling for a few minutes until he came to a tree, standing alone overlooking a steep cliff side drop into a raging river below. Rearing Agro to a halt, he gave the tree a quick inspection, only to see (to his dismay) that it was bare of fruit, seeing as it was deciduous.

_Ah, well,_ he thought, _I could always use it for firewood, if I ever need any._

From there, the way forward degraded into a narrow cliff-side path; he had to manoeuvre Agro carefully so as to not fall. Fortunately, the path wasn't all that long and soon opened into a small plain where lizards crawled around freely. A crumbling, but still fairly large, shrine was towards the back of the plain, so Wander stopped to give a quick prayer out of respect. As he lowered his head to give thanks for the fact that he was still alive after fighting four enormous monsters, he was hit with the most peculiar sensation. It actually felt like the location of the shrine was being etched into his memory. It lasted only a second, but when it was over, Wander felt as if he knew the lay of the small area of land like he had lived there all his life.

With that done, he mounted Agro yet again, held his sword up to the sun to reaffirm where he was going- though not without another jab of pain in his shoulder- and made off. The light was pointing in the general direction of a short, narrow pass between two rock faces that rose hundreds of feet into the air on either side. Going into this pass, he was met with the sight of another ancient structure. This time, it was partially submerged underwater, but the part Wander could see resembled a crumbling bridge. Moss hung in sheets from the building, swaying gently in the cool breeze. A light mist had settled over the area as soon as Wander entered it.

There was a pool of water of unknown depth leading to the structure. Wander dismounted Agro and waded into it, shivering at the crisp temperature. _Why is water in this land always so bloody cold?_ he mentally whined, shivering. He swam the short distance to the mysterious building, trying to ignore the pain in his shoulder as he did so. He had to swim under a massive, underwater archway to gain access to the structure proper. Wander emerged in a small, square, water- filled area, in the middle of which was a single large pillar with eight small ledges on it.

He swam up to this pillar and, surprisingly, stepped on a bigger ledge that was about three feet below water and went halfway around the pillar's circumference. Wander was still waist-high in cold water, but at least getting to the smaller handholds was now manageable.

Bracing himself for more agony, he jumped out of the water and grabbed the ledge closest to the platform he was standing on. There was a sudden flare of pain in his left shoulder, but he grit his teeth and forced himself to keep holding on. _For Mono's sake, _he kept telling himself. _For Mono._ He jumped up to the next ledge, and the one above that, the pain only growing worse. Just as it became too much to bear, he reached the top of the pillar. Wincing in pain, he stood up. Sopping wet, he walked along a bridge, hemmed in on his left and right by tall, rusted iron fencing. _If only the bridge to the Forbidden Lands had something like this,_ he thought wryly.

Ascending up a short flight of stairs, he was greeted by a noise like a tornado.

Looking up, he caught a glimpse of a massive, kite-like shape soar overhead. The shape banked into a turn as it flew over a huge, lake with many ancient building and structures jutting out of its surface. The lake was surrounded on all sides by a wall of rock. When it touched down on a gigantic stone pillar some yards away, it was still somewhat obscured by the mist on the lake. Wander couldn't see any fine details, but could make out enough to determine his opponent was avian. Either way, just getting to the Colossus was presenting a problem in itself.

"There is no way I can climb that pillar," Wander thought aloud. "So how am I going to...?" It was then that he noticed a large hole in the left corner of the hemmed-in lookout he was standing in. He gulped as he looked down. It may have been a drop into water, but it was still a thirty foot drop or more.

Taking one last look at the Colossus, and steeling himself for the fall, Wander stepped off the edge and dropped. Hitting the cold water felt like a slap, but he quickly regained his senses and swam to the surface, gasping in a lungful of air. In order to avoid further pain when swimming, he used only his right arm and his legs to paddle, using his left as little as possible. Making his way across was slow going, but at least the water dulled the shoulder pain. He could make out three small platforms of stone peeking just above the water's surface. Relieved, he made his way over to those. Climbing out of the water onto the block in the centre, he shivered. Rubbing his hands together to get some heat from the friction, he turned his gaze to the Colossus.

Now that he was closer, he could get a better look at it and make out details. Wander had been right in his assumption that his foe was avian. The creature this time was indeed a giant bird. A furry tail of easily fifty feet long hung over the pillar where it was perched. Its enormous wings of fur and stone where currently folded at its sides. The young man was stunned, but the shock melted into puzzlement quickly. _Why hasn't it attacked me yet?_ He thought._ It could have picked me off while I swimming over here, but it didn't. _

Whatever the reason for the Colossus' indifference to him, he knew he had to get its attention somehow. Yelling at it didn't work. Nor did whistling, waving his arms, or some combination of the three. _Dormin was right, _Wander thought, _There really _is _no easy way to reach this thing._

Fingering the bow on his back, he thought, _Well, there still is one thing I haven't tried. _

He took the bow off his back, undid the animalskin cover on his quiver, pulled out an arrow, and notched it. However, just as he was about to launch the arrow at the giant bird, he hesitated. _Should I really be doing this? _he debated in his mind. _I've done nothing but take innocent lives! I mean, look at it! It's done nothing to me so far, and it probably never will unless I shoot it. _

Wander then thought of Mono, saw her smile in his mind's eye, reminding him of why he was doing what he was doing. Pulling the bowstring back tighter, he whispered, "I'm sorry..." to the bird just as he released the arrow. It flew straight and true, embedding itself deep in the Colossus' mossy green fur. Instantaneously, the bird whipped its head towards where Wander was standing, and its eyes turned orange. With an ear-piercing screech, the creature took off from its perch, dive-bombing down, aiming to smash its bulk into Wander to end its attacker's life.

Wander just barely had enough time to shut his quiver before jumping back into the lake with a cry to avoid the bird's swoop. Seeing that it had missed, the bird screeched in anger and began circling around, waiting for its aggressor to show himself again.

Said aggressor clamoured back onto the stone block, shivering from the chilly lake water. The beast, having gotten a lock on Wander's position, swooped down again, determined to end him.

Wander saw it coming, and made up his mind. He would not jump in the lake this time. He stowed his bow away, getting ready to jump. Thinking it ironic that the bird's attack would likely be its downfall, and gathering all the courage he had, he leaped as soon the fur on the beast's wing joint was within ten feet of him.

The impact of hitting the wall of fur nearly drove the breath from his lungs, but he stubbornly refused to let go. He felt the sensation of his stomach going into his throat as the Colossus gained height. It flapped its wings, making Wander flail about like a ragdoll and putting immeasurable strain on his already taxed shoulder. After the bird had gained sufficient height (which was a hundred feet above the lake) it stopped flapping its wings, allowing Wander to climb the fur and get on the creature's back.

The rushing air chilled his soaked body even more, and it threatened to blow him right off of the Colossus. It suddenly banked into a turn to keep from crashing into the rock wall, going almost completely vertical. When this started happening, Wander held on tight to its fur, for he knew if he _did_ fall, hitting the water would mean death. Once the bird's back became a flat surface again, he put his bow away and held his sword up to the sun. The beam this time revealed a Sigil on the tip of the bird's long tail.

With the wind at his at his back, Wander cautiously began to move toward the back the beast's tail. It was very slow going, as the Colossus constantly banked into turns, making Wander grab on to keep from falling off. Otherwise, the bird did nothing to shake him.

Eventually making it to the Sigil, Wander held tight with one hand and raised his sword with the other, plunging it into the glowing mark. The bird squealed in pain, but oddly, didn't thrash or shake its tail from side to side like he was expecting.

He pulled his blade from the creature's flesh, and was promptly covered in inky black blood.

Since the Colossus didn't seem to be resisting, he was free to take another stab. Doing this didn't come without guilt, however. Wander was murdering a living creature that was, by all accounts, harmless. Yanking his blade out again (and after getting covered in blood for what he was sure was the hundredth time), the Sigil disappeared. Wander knew there had to be more Sigils, given how the beast was still alive. He turned his body around to face the front of the bird.

Still holding on with one hand, he held his blade up again.

This time, the beam lit up a Sigil on the furry tip of the bird's right wing. Moving the sword around, he saw another Sigil in the exact same place on the left wing. _Well, this should be fun._

Carefully standing up, he tried to move towards the bird's back once more. There was one problem with this though: the wind, which had been at his back before, was now against him. Running felt like trying to wade through waist-deep water. Wander felt his leg muscles become jelly-like very quickly.

Squinting through the rushing wind, he could feel the skin on his cheeks start to peel back around his teeth. Unfortunately, before he could get onto one of the wings, the bird started flapping them, forcing him to crouch down and hold on, waiting for it to stop. After banking into yet another turn, the bird levelled out, giving Wander access to the wings. Using extreme caution, he slowly made his way to the tip.

Praying to heaven that the bird wouldn't turn, he crouched down onto the fur. With the Sigil glowing underneath him, he quickly thrust his blade into it. The Colossus again squealed in pain, flapping its wings and spasming in mid-air.

In a seeming bid to try and shake Wander off, the beast even performed an aileron roll. Wander nearly threw up as he was subjected to this stomach-churning manoeuvre. When the beast settled, he stabbed down again. The Colossus made another roll, Wander trying to keep the contents of his stomach down.

At the apex of the roll, when the wing was pointing almost entirely vertically, Wander's grip slipped. He screamed as he fell, knowing that when he hit water, every bone in his body would shatter, killing him instantly.

Imagine his surprise then when he landed on the bird's tail with a hard _THUMP_. Unbelievably, the wind had pushed him back as he fell, so was right in line with the creature's long tail. Opening his eyes, Wander was amazed at how lucky he had been.

_If this thing wasn't still turning as I fell..._

Checking to make sure the Sigil was gone- it was- Wander once more made his way to the final Sigil; the one on the left wingtip. Droplets of black blood flew off of him in the wind as he made his way up the tail and onto the left wing.

He stabbed at the final Sigil once, enduring yet another aileron roll, gripping as tightly as he possibly could through it, knowing he wouldn't get as lucky a second time. Stabbing down again, it was over. The bird squealed in pain one last time, and began to fall from the sky into the lake. Wander felt an overwhelming sense of guilt even as he clung to the wing for dear life. The corpse of the Colossus crash-landed in the lake with a tremendous splash. Water was thrown forty feet in the air. Wander surfaced, feeling traumatized. _Did I really just do that?_ He thought.

The tentacles, as always, homed in on him and seeped into him, making his body go numb.

He saw the white light, heard the strange breathing, but this time, he heard a muffled sound, distinctly resembling his name...

* * *

**A/N: A little bit about the move that Wander pulled off (even if it was by pure chance). I wasn't able to do this myself, but if you want to see it done, I recommend checking out part 5 of Lancun's Hard Mode Let's Play of this game. (By the way, an aileron roll is the **_**proper **_**term for a barrel roll; thank you Game Theory). I know I made Avion a bit more aggressive than in the game, but if someone shot you with a friggin' ARROW, you'd be pretty pissed to, am I right?**

**While on the subject of Avion, I have seen a video of what happens to its corpse. I forget the name of the video, but the uploader's username is Nomad Colossus. What happens is that the body sinks to the bottom of the lake, then slowly floats to the top. Needless to say, it's pretty disturbing stuff. I did have a preliminary snippet for this battle written out on paper long before I started this chapter, but it had to be scrapped because of what happened to Wander's shoulder in chapter 4. I'll post it on my profile, maybe some of you will like it.**


	7. The Goliath

**In The Shadow of the Beasts**

_**By: Rylek196**_

* * *

The Sixth: The Goliath, Barba

Now there were five shadows that watched over Wander as he, for the fifth time, lay unconscious in Dormin's light. Oddly, one of the shadow beings was shorter than the rest, who were generally about the same height. Farther back in the Shrine, in the third alcove on the right side, the statue of the bird Colossus exploded. Wander shook his head as he awoke_. I really hope this doesn't become a routine,_ he thought, groaning as he rose to his feet on shaky legs.

He looked up at Dormin's light as the strange being began to speak.

"**Thy next foe is… a giant lurks underneath the temple… It lusts for destruction, but a fool, it is not."**

The voice faded once again, leaving Wander alone. Wander walked up the steps to the alter where Mono lay, scaring a small flock of five doves around her. Her face was still incredibly pale, but the color had returned to her hands and feet, at least.

Wander looked at the now-crumbled remains of the bird Colossus' Idol. Killing a creature as peaceful as that bird had started to make him reconsider whether it was all worth it. It was, after all, sixteen lives for one.

_Of course it is worth it,_ the voice chided him in his mind. _You are willing to go through whatever it takes for her, are you not?_

"Yes," Wander answered to no one in particular.

_Then_ _MOVE_. The last word was spoken louder and with more force than Wander had ever heard from the voice, and it slightly scared him. Nevertheless, he went outside and held his blade up. His shoulder joint gave a slight twinge, but it was nowhere near as bad as before.

_Well, that's some good news, at least._

The beam this time pointed the direction he happened to be facing- west. Going back inside and mounting Agro as he always did, he made for the west. With the speed Agro was running, the trip across the plain was a short one, soon he had arrived at a forest filled with deciduous trees. Sunlight peeked in between the treetops in places, and dead, fallen leaves crunched under Agro's feet as she moved.

To avoid smashing headlong into a tree, Wander pulled back on the reins, slowing the horse to a walk. The pair made their way deeper into the woods, Wander holding up his sword on occasion to get some sense of where they were going. Doing this however, proved to be useless. All that he got was a weak, sputtering yellow beam, similar to what happened when he was fighting the knight.

Worse yet, the forest, while small, was extremely disorienting. Already, Wander couldn't tell where he even come in, let alone where he was supposed to go. At one point, he used the light coming in from the gaps in the tree canopy to get a better idea of his destination. A slightly more pronounced beam burst forth from the sword's blade, pointing straight ahead. Excited by the prospect of finally getting somewhere, Wander spurred Agro on, riding to where he was sure was the exit... Only to have his hopes die within him as he got closer. He was headed for nothing more then a gap in the semi-circular wall of rock surrounding the forest.

Wander was forced to rear his steed to a sudden halt so as to not go racing right through it. Angrily dismounting Agro, he stood in the sunlight the gap afforded and held his blade up. The beam shot forward, full and strong like a laser, pointing to a mountain he could see in the distance. Directly below him was a shallow lagoon, a single fruit-tree in the middle of it. As far as he could tell, though, he couldn't jump down into the lagoon without breaking something, and there seemed to be no way out of it anyway.

_So,_ Wander mentally seethed. _We have: a forest I can't find my way out of, a Colossus I can't get to, and food I can't even eat because it's out of reach. This is just great. _

Cursing, he hopped off the rock he was standing on, ready to try to find a way out of the forest and find an alternate path to the Colossus, but then he saw it.

It was a white spire from what he could tell, seeing as it was partially hidden by trees. Whatever it was, it was definitely man-made. Wander mounted Agro and raced toward the mysterious shape, hoping it was what he thought it was. As he got closer, his assumptions were confirmed; it _was_ a shrine; identical save its color to the one he encountered on his way to the bird Colossus.

Feeling a hint of regret at the thought of the bird, he nonetheless took a knee in front of the shrine in prayer. Instantly, the strange sensation washed over him again, but when it was done, the entirety of the forest area was etched into his mind.

_These shrines must have built by ancient people to chart the land,_ Wander realized._ Every time I see one, I'll have to stop._

Thanks to his new knowledge of the forest, he now knew there was a path in the northwestern part of the woods leading out. Hastily riding over, he crossed a short natural bridge, hewn by the elements, through a cave, and emerged into a vast desert. The sun was blinding, the wind whipped up sand harshly and the heat was intense. Luckily for Wander, his sword's light told him his destination was close- just a short ride south. Arriving at a massive temple built into the mountain he had seen earlier, he hopped off Agro, as there were fallen pillars blocking the entrance.

Wander reached into Agro's saddlebag for his water-skin, took a drink, and put it back.

"Sorry, girl," he said as he climbed over the pillars. "Just stay here, don't try to go back through that forest or you'll get lost."

The horse was currently looking at him with what seemed like concern. Wander put his arm over the obstacle, stroking Agro's face. "I'll be fine," he reassured her, then turned and walked down the stairs into the subterranean temple.

Three more sets of fallen pillars blocked his path in the hallway he found himself in, all of which he clambered over with ease. _Can't get too cocky, though,_ he reminded himself, _the Colossus will be much, _much _more difficult._ After going down one more flight of stairs, the hallway opened up into the temple proper.

It was a gigantic, cavernous room, divided in half by a single pillar that looked like a capital 'T' with a curved top. Light spilled in from a jagged hole in the roof farther in.

Wander was stunned. So caught up was he in wondering how this place was architecturally possible that he nearly fell to his doom. At the last second, he realized he was two steps away from walking right over the edge of a cliff-like wall in front of him. Breathing a sigh of relief, he cautiously peered over edge.

Estimating it was at least ninety feet down, he stepped away, then forward again, having seen something. Getting down on his belly and letting his head hang over the man-made cliff, he saw the wall was built with ledges, lots of them, placed every few feet.

Now, getting down the wall wasn't too much of a hassle. In less than two minutes, he had climbed down. Pulling out his sword, Wander advanced into the massive space.

Suddenly, he heard the sound of stone on stone... the sound of the wall he had just gone down retracting into the floor.

Wander didn't turn around. He didn't want to. He knew what was going to be behind him, and didn't want to face it. But when he heard and felt the first thundering footstep, he did turn, promptly wishing he hadn't.

The humanoid Colossus that had emerged from behind the wall, while not as tall as the third, was still tall enough to put the first to shame. On top of that, its build was much thicker, with enormous biceps and hands that could level houses. Its stone 'face' looked oddly vacant, like it had nothing on its mind, and a huge beard of silver- grey fur hung from the monster's chin.

Wander fled for his life as the creature continued its surprisingly fast gait on its chunky back-jointed legs.

Unfortunately, there was an obstacle in his path: namely, a ten- foot- high wall that prevented him from going any further. Wander looked around desperately for any way to scale the wall, knowing the Colossus was only steps away from flattening him. Just before Wander resigned himself to his fate, he saw his salvation. There were carvings resembling giant soup pots with their lids on placed at regular intervals along the walls. In addition, these were placed in such a way that the wall could be climbed. Best of all, he could reach these structures if he jumped.

With the giant not a step away, Wander jumped up to the carving, grabbing the edge and hauling himself up on top of it. The drop from the top of the wall to the ground was still ten feet, but it was drop down or get flattened. Wisely choosing to jump down, Wander saw yet another wall, identical to the one he had just climbed over, ahead. As Wander sprinted toward the second wall, the Colossus simply walked through the first one like it wasn't even there and kept going.

His heart rate intensifying, he climbed this wall, running toward a _third _one. He turned his head as he ran, just time to see the beast bring a huge fist down on the second wall, crushing it to pieces. The shockwave from the impact knocked Wander off his feet, but he quickly got back up, climbing the third wall and stood atop it. Now he was under the hole in the roof, directly in the sun's glow. Feeling the Colossus was far enough away (even though it was getting closer by the second), to highlight its Sigils, he held his blade skyward.

The beam, as always, appeared. Moving the sword to manipulate the beam, a Sigil showed its face on the top of the creature's head. That was all he had time for, because the beast was nearly on top of him. He jumped off the wall just as the Colossus smashed right through it.

Just ahead was an elaborately carved multi-level wall, looking like a section of a coliseum.

Not being able to reach the higher levels (not that there was any advantage to being in them anyway), Wander ran inside the ground floor of the coliseum-wall. The wall was nothing more than a shallow cave; a dead end. Wander began to panic as he realized he was effectively trapped. He did the only thing he could do in his situation- hide behind one of the support pillars and hope the beast wouldn't notice him.

Hearing the creature's booming footsteps outside, he prayed to all the deities he knew of that the Colossus wouldn't bring down the wall in its search for him. Fate must have been smiling upon him that day, for nothing like that happened.

Gathering his courage, poked his head out, discovering the beast _was facing to the left, completely oblivious to his presence! _

"You really need to be more accurate with your descriptions, Dormin," Wander muttered under his breath.

Figuring now was as good a time as any to look for the beast's weak points; he stealthily stepped out of his hiding place. With the beast's back still turned, he held his sword up, highlighting a Sigil on the lower left of its back.

By now, the creature had caught on to the fact that its quarry was right behind it, and turned around. As it did this, the light from Wander's sword lit up another Sigil on the- "What?"- Back of its right hand. (The Colossus' left).

Wander ran back inside to his hiding place as the bearded Colossus raised its cloven hoof to smash him into the ground. Dive-rolling to gain some extra distance quickly, he made it back inside just as the hoof made impact, which was still enough to knock him off his feet again. He pushed himself to his feet, brushing dust off his clothing.

The Colossus then stupidly kneeled down to look for Wander, placing its Sigil- hand flat on the ground and giving Wander a golden opportunity. He once more ran out from his hiding place onto the furry back of the creature's hand. He managed to get in one stab, getting covered in blood in the process, but the beast shook its arm relentlessly, preventing him from taking another. Wander felt his arms grow tired very fast, so he decided to try a different method. Letting go of the beast's hand- luckily, the beast was incredibly lanky, so it wasn't too far a drop- he ran back to his hiding place.

To his bewilderment, the dumb beast actually lowered its head _again, _its beard almost brushing the ground.

_So apparently this thing has no object permanence, _Wander thought, then he smirked. _Good to know._

Again climbing onto the back of the Colossus' hand, he stabbed the Sigil a second time. The glowing mark vanished, Wander smiled grimly to himself despite his blood-covered face.

_One down, two to go._

His smile instantly withered and died when the Colossus shook its arm, flailing him around like a ragdoll.

Dropping off the hand once the giant stopped shaking it momentarily, Wander sprinted back to the coliseum-wall, his sandals slapping on the stone floor.

The beast keeled down a third time, its beard again almost touching the ground. Seeing no other way up the beast, Wander ran and jumped, grabbing a hold of the beard.

Feeling a weight on its chin, the Colossus pulled its head up, exactly as the fourth had done with its tail. Actually climbing up the beard was more of a challenge than Wander had anticipated, as every step the eighty-ton Colossus took caused him to shake about.

When he was high enough on the beard, he leaped from it to the beast's chest, climbing from there. It was a painfully difficult task, and he nearly lost his grip several times, but eventually, he made it up the beast's shoulder and up onto its hunched back.

Deciding he would focus on the back Sigil last, Wander made his way to the still-glowing mark atop the creature's skull. However, he noticed something different about this Sigil: it was angled more to the left of the Colossus' head.

He didn't have much time to ponder why this was, for the monster dipped its head down, getting ready to throw it back to fling Wander off. As soon as the beast started to dip down, he grabbed its fur, hoping to keep that from happening.

It barely worked. With a roar that sounded like similar to a bear, the Colossus tossed its head back with far more zeal and force than the first. Wander almost sprained his wrist as he was flung up and turned completely around on the beast's fur.

Trying his best to ignore the pain, he raised his sword, ready to stab as soon as the monster's head became level. With a grunt of both effort and pain, he plunged his blade into down into the creature's skull.

A geyser of black, ichorous blood spewed out of the wound, once again drenching Wander in it. Wiping some off his face- it was just one more thing that came with Colossi killing- he prepared to stab again. The Colossus, it seemed, had other plans, as it dipped its head down to thrash again. Wander was faster on the draw, stabbing down just before the beast threw its head back.

This canceled its attempt to shake, and through the blood spraying into his face, Wander saw the Sigil vanish. _Alright, two down, one to go._

Unfortunately for him, the final Sigil would be the most dangerous, with no place he could easily retreat to if he needed momentary reprieve- there was nothing but a forty foot drop. He began moving to the monster's left shoulder, jumping over its partially exposed, bony spine.

Bracing himself, he started climbing down the Colossus' back to get to the Sigil. The bearded beast would have none of it, thrashing its upper body from side to side. Wander cried out as he was whipped back and forth. When the beast stopped its shaking, he rapidly stabbed the Sigil, pulling his blade out and getting a spray of blood full in the face. Immediately, he spat the foul-tasting, inky liquid out of his mouth.

He readied what he was sure was the killing blow, stabbing almost exactly as the Colossus began to shake. Once more, man ended up being faster than beast.

As his sword penetrated the monster's flesh for the final time, Wander was overcome with a fresh wave of guilt. The Colossus roared in agony and fell forward, its murderer clinging on for dear life the whole time.

Something in the back of his mind said he should hide, get away from what he knew was coming, but it was too late. The tentacles seeped into him, his entire body going numb. Wander's mind couldn't even register the shock before everything went black.

* * *

**A/N: Hmm... I'm kinda iffy on this chapter. I like the environmental description, but I don't think adding the Hard Mode Sigil added anything. If anything, I think it just padded out the fight more. But MAN, I had to get real creative describing those short walls. I hate the architecture in this game. It's well designed, but it's so abstract and obtuse and hard to describe and rantrantrant. But yeah, anyways, that part when Wander stabs Barba right as its about to throw its head back? Actually happened to me. I told you this is (mostly) going off my own gameplay. This is the last of the chapters I have pre-written. Look for chapter 7: Hydrophobia, in the next few weeks. **


	8. Hydrophobia

**A/N: So, yeah. I hear SOPA's back. **...**can I ask a completely legitimate question here? Why is whoever came up with SOPA still alive? Why haven't they been hanged or burned at the stake or something equally justifiable after they nearly ruined the internet last time? I dunno. Anyways, this chapter. THIS EFFING CHAPTER. I thought I had it all figured out. But NOOO, writer's block just HAD to run up and bite me on the ass. That's why this took so damn long, and it's why this one's... well, not that great. If you wanna tell me different, by all means, review. One minor note though: Hydrus apparently has two 'subtitles': Leviathan and Sea Dragon. No other Colossi are like this, but since the Wiki says 'Leviathan', that's what I'll put here.**

**In The Shadow of the Beasts**

_**By: **_**Rylek196**

The Seventh: Leviathan, Hydrus

Six shadow beings looked down upon Wander's motionless form as he lay in Dormin's light. The ground shook, then the Idol of the bearded Colossus exploded. All the shadows vanished when Wander began to stir. "Yes," Wander groaned to no one in particular as he pushed himself to his feet. "This is definitely becoming a routine."

He looked up at Dormin's light to receive his next clue. **"Thy next foe is... A ruin hidden in the lake... A ripple of thunder lurks underwater..."**

The voice faded for the sixth time, and Wander was again alone. He decided to do something different to find the Colossus this time. Instead of going outside, he simply remained in Dormin's light, holding his sword up.

Like a reliable friend, the beam appeared. Unfortunately, it was pointing in the one direction that Wander had hoped it would never point again: north. The thought of going under the white bridge _again, _be subjected to a potentially even _worse_ vision filled Wander with terror. Letting his arm fall to his side, he glanced back at Mono.

When he first started this quest, he had told himself no price to bring her back was too great. Now, though, he was beginning to re-think that. Either way, he whistled for Agro, the horse galloping into the Shrine shortly after he did so. He had long since stopped questioning how Agro got back so fast, only mounting his steed and setting off.

When he was within a stone's throw of going under the bridge, he pulled Agro to a halt. Gazing up at the massive construction in fear, he considered his options. _If I go under that bridge, I'll get a vision, which, judging by the last one, will be even _worse. Suddenly, an idea popped into his head, and Wander literally slapped himself for not thinking of it before.

The choice of riding around the _left_ of the Shrine and not going under the bridge at all was always there. "Stupid, stupid, stupid..."

Wander turned Agro around, spurring her on by kicking her sides, heading the opposite way he came.

Letting out a sigh of relief, he crossed the natural rock bridge, this time avoiding looking at the corpse of the second Colossus. To reaffirm where exactly he had to go, he held up his sword. The light, however, proved to be useless, only pointing a scattered, unfocused beam at the path to the lake where he had fought the third Colossus.

_Well, that can't be right. _Wander thought. Just ahead of him to the north stretched a vast strip of desert, nestled between the bridge to the east and an impassible mountain wall that went on for miles to the west. Each were barriers, but for different reasons.

Wander held his blade up again, getting Agro to turn a touch to the right. The effect was instant; the beam shone like a laser straight at the desert, unlike its fragmented appearance when pointing at the path.

His gaze followed the beam, then he let his arm fall to his side. He didn't relish the idea of trekking through a desert, but it seemed he had no choice. Wander sighed. "Come on girl," he said to his mount. "Let's make this fast." And with that, the pair took off to the north, across the sand.

By the position of the sun, Wander guessed it was sometime past noon, possibly 2:00 to 2:30. The heat wasn't as big an issue as he thought it would be, the wind in his face kept him cool, but the blowing sand and glare from the sun were. He found he could negate the sun's harsh light simply by holding up his sword. The beam drastically cut down on glare, and sunlight in general, like the sword hungered for the sun's rays, putting them into the beam.

However, the sand carried on the wind, he could do nothing about. It blew everywhere, small amounts of it getting in his clothes, in his hair, and forcing him to squint.

Eventually, the mountain started to curve northwest. Wander continued on, the dunes seeming to blend together, until he saw another small shrine. Again, it was identical in appearance to the two he had seen previously. Expanding his mental map was never a bad idea, so Wander prayed before it. Five seconds and one odd sensation later, half the desert had been mapped out in his brain.

Just beyond the shrine he could see a smattering of ruins atop a slope- tall, skinny pillars here, and stone blocks there. Wander mounted Agro, making haste to what he was sure was the destination.

Atop the slope, he laid eyes upon a long-abandoned, crumbling wall. A lone arched opening in the wall stood in front of him. Guardedly, he approached the wall and rode through the archway. What greeted him on the other side of the wall was a partially collapsed bridge. The bridge's implied endpoint at one point in time was a single, enormous pillar with a spiralling ramp wound around it. The ramp led down into a massive lake. Once again, Wander was taken aback by the skill of the now-gone people of the Forbidden Lands.

Halfway across the derelict bridge, he looked over the right side, seeing something unusual. Three sparkling, white lights could be seen just below the surface of the lake, like underwater stars. This didn't fool Wander though. _If that isn't the Colossus, I'll be damned. _

The lights stayed perfectly still. Wander considered taking a potshot at the lights, even pulling out his bow, but then decided against it. _Better to not waste arrows. _

He dismounted Agro once he reached the now-premature end of the bridge. Agro neighed in dismay, she was thirsty, and the lake just teased her more. "Sorry, girl," Wander said, patting her neck. "First thing in the morning, we'll go to that lake where the third Colossus was, okay?"

Agro snorted in happy agreement, running off. Wander turned back to the pillar. A section of the bridge had given way, but not fallen into the lake itself, so the ramp could still be reached. Aside from jumping a gap in the ramp on the way down, there were no problems. Preparing for more cold water, and making sure his effects were on tight, Wander waded into the lake.

A cloud of sand that was trapped in his clothing instantly dirtied the water, but Wander entering the lake had another, far more terrible side-effect.

Under normal circumstances, the Colossus in question was fairly passive. However, from its home in the lake, it had seen the pillars of light go up, distorting the sky. It felt the ripples in the water, saw an unfamiliar shape invade its sanctuary, and began to move. The Colossus slithered through the water, its eel-like form cutting the liquid like a knife. It gave a roar unlike any aquatic creature in existence could- even Wander, treading water, heard it.

Wander swam around the pillar, making his way to what seemed to be a section of the bridge that had long since fallen into the water. The Colossus let out another angry roar as Wander went out of its reach. Shaking the water out of his hair, Wander got a good look at the beast as it circled the slanted chunk of bridge he was on.

The creature was long and snake-like; it was definitely the biggest of the Colossi he had seen thus far. The white lights he had seen were, in actuality, spikes connected to the beast's back, almost like masts of a ship. Though the spikes were a dull orange colour, they gave off a white glow, but what purpose they served, Wander had no idea.

The eel-creature kept circling, occasionally its tail would break the surface, revealing the fur on it. Wander had his way of getting onto the beast, but just thinking of going in the water made him anxious. He didn't know what the spikes could do, nor how aggressive the creature was. Inevitably however, he had to get in the water. The Colossus roared again, making right for him.

Wander swam out of the way as one of the creature's spikes came near the surface. When it did, a circular, white spark of electricity shot through the water, dangerously close to Wander. _Okay, _Wander thought,_ those spikes create lighting. Lightning plus water is bad. _ Dodging the other two spikes, he positioned himself under the tail as it broke the surface, grabbing the fur and hanging on tight. Strangely, the fur seemed to be waterproof, it wasn't wet, but Wander didn't have time to marvel at that fact because the tail plunged under the water again, pulling him along. He barely had time to inhale a breath of air before being submerged.

Being pulled along by the Colossus simultaneously exhilarated and terrified him. The sensation was akin to holding onto an underwater freight train- there was nothing else like it. On the other hand, the strain on his arms threatened to whisk him off the eel-creature, and his lungs burned, crying out for oxygen.

Mercifully, the Colossus, including its tail, soon surfaced. Wander gasped in a blessed lungful of air, panting... and then the beast dove once more. He tightened his grip on the fur and held his breath.

Water rushed past him, almost pushing his head back from sheer force. Soon the beast surfaced, allowing Wander to both take a breath and begin to move along the creature's back. Dormin's voice called out to him in his mind, instructing him on what to do. _**Sever the power of the radiating horn at its root... **_

Running along the Colossus' back was much easier said than done. Water constantly sprayed up, drenching Wander in the cold liquid. In addition, the part of the Colossus he stood on, while not completely submerged, was still partially underwater, enough to come up to his shins. Carefully trying to avoid the undertow, he made his way to the first electric horn. A glowing teal crack automatically appeared once he got close. He stabbed the crack, the horn going black and dead, harmless. A spurt of black blood sprayed out as Wander pulled his sword from the wound. The blood acted like oil oddly enough, staying on the water and floating there.

Roaring in pain, the beast dove underwater again. Wander took a deep breath just before he was totally submerged. Barely managing to keep his grip, he moved to second spike once the Colossus emerged. He stabbed another glowing crack at the foot of the spike, causing it to go dead. He kept going, towards the final spike.

Right as Wander crouched down to take the stab, the Colossus dipped below water, just enough to activate the spike. _"Auugh!" _Wander screamed as the electricity coursed through him. The voltage wasn't high enough to electrocute him, but it was certainly sufficient to paralyse his muscles. Making matters worse, the Colossus decided to dive down deep into the lake, leaving nothing solid for Wander to stand on.

Unable to swim, he began to sink into the depths. Inwardly, Wander was panicking, screaming, trying to get his body to respond to his brain's commands, but to no avail. To his good fortune, he wasn't breathing, so no water entered his lungs, but that also had the side-effect of cutting down his air supply. He kept sinking, the surface getting farther away with each passing second. Miraculously, he still held on to his sword. Wander was afraid of two things: death and failing Mono. In this case, death would mean both. If he died here, Mono would never be resurrected, her smiling face never lighting up every day again.

Wander kept fighting to get his body to move, his lungs burning, but then he got his finger to twitch. It wasn't much, but it was all he had. His paralysis was wearing off. Getting his arms to move took all the strength he possessed, but he started clawing his way upwards, his vision going black at the edges... Gasping, Wander broke the water's surface, spitting out the water in his mouth and taking huge gulps of air. He remained that way, simply breathing and treading water with some effort, for several minutes. The Colossus eventually took notice of the fact that its foe had survived, immediately swimming for a still- recovering Wander.

At the last second, Wander saw the eel-creature coming, swimming out of the way of its one remaining electric spike. He swam over the tail as it came out of the water, grabbing the fur and taking a deep breath just before he was pulled under.

If holding on was taxing before, it was excruciating now. The after-effects of getting zapped made him stiff, and with no way to stretch, the strain very nearly caused him to lose his grip. Right when the Colossus rose above water, Wander took off running as fast as his stiff legs would allow. Moving his legs felt like having two lead weights strapped to his feet, but he managed.

He got past the already-defunct first spike, riding out another dive by the Colossus. He kept running able to skip the dead second spike like he had the first.

Getting to the still-active third spike, he stopped, gauging his odds. At the right moment, he jumped, stabbing his blade down into the teal crack. The beast bellowed in rage and pain, and the spike went dead. The Colossus now had no means of defending itself from a very angry Wander. It did have one last desperate trick up its sleeve though. As Wander moved onto the creature's head, it began to dunk its head up and down rapidly into the water, but Wander was in no mood to play games. He stabbed the glowing Major Sigil with all his might. A geyser of black blood showered him, but was quickly washed away by the rushing water.

The Colossus kept dunking its head in a futile effort to shake Wander off, to no avail. Wander stabbed whenever the opportunity presented itself. On the fourth stab, the creature thrashed about in its death throes, Wander letting go. The Colossus started sinking to the bottom of the lake, going belly-up as it did so.

Absolutely exhausted, Wander just about followed the beast down. The tentacles simply aided in this endeavour, stabbing into him.

When he saw the light this time, no voice-like noise was heard, only the breathing, like someone taking in air after swimming underwater...

**A/N: I was gonna end the chapter in a different way originally... but no. Next chapter: Wander faces the Wall Shadow, Kuromori. **


	9. Breathless

**A/N: Okay, not much to say here except this battle was SO MUCH FUN TO WRITE. (On paper, at least.) I don't even know how long I've been planning to do to Wander what I did in this chapter, and seeing finally come to fruition is more satisfying than I can say. Also, (at least in term of Colossi killed) we're HALFWAY THERE! I highly recommend you listen to Liberated Guardian while you read the battle.**

* * *

**In The Shadow of the Beasts**

_**By: **_**Rylek196**

The Eighth: Wall Shadow, Kuromori

The sun had set on the Forbidden Lands once again, and with the death of another Colossus, Wander lay in the Shrine of Worship. Seven shadowy beings watched over him, disappearing when the Idol of the eel-Colossus exploded. Wander's eyes fluttered open. He groaned in pain, pushing himself to his feet. _And I thought fighting three Colossi in a row was bad..._

Much to his dismay, he found his clothes were still wet from the lake. He winced from his still-stiff muscles, taking off his soaked tabard, undoing his sword-belt, and peeling off his tunic, setting them aside to dry. Dormin, at least, was being far more courteous this time, he noticed. The being had spoken not a word, and even his light had dimmed somewhat.

Calling for Agro, the horse ran into the Shrine, lying down next to her master like she had the night before. Wander closed his weary eyes, in moments he was asleep.

...But his dreams were once again tumultuous...

This time, his dreams painted a picture of the first Colossus stomping towards him, exactly as it had done during the battle. When Wander tried to run out of the way, he found his legs wouldn't respond.

The beast came closer, raising its club to attack. Wander tried to move, but it was as if his feet were bolted to the ground, immobile. The club descended, and Wander screamed. He felt a sudden, intense pain as he was hit with the tree-sized cudgel, and the scene changed.

Now he was climbing the creature, on its hunched neck, moving towards the Sigil, when the monster suddenly shook like a rattle. Unable to get a grip on its fur in time, he was flung off, falling from the Colossus. He hit the ground hard on his left side, his bones instantly shattering. Wander felt it all- the feeling of falling, the pain of bones breaking, the sensation of death seizing him.

If the nightmare had ended here, he would have gladly traded sleep to be rid of the torturous imagery.

Unfortunately, it didn't.

The dream continued, going for quite some time, showing him exactly what would have happened if he had died facing a Colossus. He felt the pain of being crushed, however brief that pain was. He felt what it was like to actually drown, the water filling his lungs... then it stopped, and Wander was subjected to the most insidious pain yet.

It was a burning, intense pain, coming every time he breathed. Wander choked, trying to get air into his lungs, but that only made it worse. He coughed, coming out of his mouth and speckling his tabard. Trying to take another breath, he collapsed to the ground, clutching at his throat, coughing, choking, suffocating-!

The loud 'coo' of a dove in his ear awoke Wander from his troubled slumber. He shot bolt upright, frightening the bird away. Breathing heavily, he looked around.

Sunlight streamed into the Shrine of Worship, and Dormin's light had returned to its usual intensity. Wander looked to the alter where Mono lay.

Seven doves, including the one that woke him, were pecking the ground around the alter. Pushing himself to his feet, he gave his body a thorough stretch, walking over to his tunic and tabard. He picked up the tabard, holding it out at arm's length.

The garment was starting to show signs of wear and tear; it was getting darker from the black bloodstains. Rips were beginning to form along the bottom edges, the tunic not looking much better. They were at least dry now though.

Wander put both on, then strapped on his effects. Right as he finished doing so, Dormin's voice boomed throughout the Shrine, giving Wander perhaps his strangest clue yet.

"**Thy next foe is... A tail trapped within a pail deep within the forest... A shadow that crawls on the walls."**

The voice faded, Wander left to puzzle out what 'a tail in a pail' meant, exactly. Figuring he would get it once he saw the Colossus, Wander turned to find Agro still sleeping._ Poor thing, she must be exhausted from going through that desert yesterday. Probably thirsty, too._

Walking over to her, he gave her a scratch behind the ears, awakening her. "Time to get going, Agro." Wander said. "Remember? We're going to the lake today."

The horse slowly got to her feet, stretching asshe stood. Wander mounted her, riding around the left of the Shrine, across the natural bridge, and to the lake.

Dismounting her at the lake's shore, Wander left his steed to drink her fill while he searched for food. Luckily, it wasn't that hard to find something; he seen several black-tailed lizards along the path. He killed two of these with his sword, bringing them back to the lake shore to cook.

A few trees grew on the lake's edge; he cut down the smallest of these for a bit of firewood.

While he was eating his meal, Wander looked up at the slanted platform on the lake. He could faintly make out the remains of the third Colossus, still hanging over the dais. A pillar of light shone into the sky exactly where the corpse lay.

A hint of guilt welled up in Wander, but he crushed it firmly.

Agro walked up, having drank her fill. Wander refilled his waterskin, and then held his sword up. The misty air and cloudy sky kept the beam from exhibiting its full power, but the weak, sputtering yellow beam pointed out of the lake area.

Once out of the path and under clearer skies, the beam directed him south. To his good fortune, he spied another fruit-bearing tree located a few hundred meters from the lake path. Climbing the tree, he shook the fruit down and ate it.

His meal done, Wander remounted Agro, crossing the land bridge, back to the plains surrounding the Shrine. He rode southeast, heading toward a canyon. Inside, the walls blotted out the sun; the beam reverting to its yellow, weak state. Unlike the forest, this didn't prove too big an issue, and Wander emerged into a more lit-up area soon after.

Just ahead he could see the entrance to a very suspicious-looking cave in a ciffside. Wander didn't need the beam to tell him that was his destination. Riding to it, he chanced a look to his right, and saw (though it was little out of his way) another small mind-map shrine.

Delighted, he made straight for it, praying before it. Though the interior of the cave wasn't revealed to him, which was disappointing, he got a look at what lay to the south: Green, verdant plains, abundant with lizards and fruit-trees and natural beauty.

The mental image alone almost made Wander do as his namesake, but he remembered he had a task to fulfil.

He headed back to the cave and went inside. The cave wasn't so much a cave as it was a breathtakingly beautiful cavern. It was roughly circular in shape, with a waterfall on the far wall, endlessly pouring the life-giving liquid down into a huge, seemingly bottomless pit in the centre. Mist from the falls rose up out of the pit, wetting the air and making it very pleasant to breath.

Wander guided Agro with extreme care along a narrow path to the right. He took it slow; one wrong step would lead to a watery grave for them both.

Strangely, a man-made totem of sorts stood on the edge of the path, telling Wander he was getting close, but also begging the question of how it was built inside this place. The sound of the waterfall faded as he turned a corner, going into an even bigger cavern. In the centre of a shallow lagoon, defying all laws of architectural possibility stood a man-made temple.

Enormous trees stood at the bank of the lagoon, solving the first part of Dormin's riddle.

_Unfortunately, that's not the real issue._ Wander thought. _The real questions are, how did ancient people build that inside a mountain if not by the aide of magic, and what does 'a tail in pail' mean?_

Wander parted ways with Agro here, wading through the ankle and then knee-deep water to get to the temple. Like seemingly everything else on this path thus far, the temple was bigger on the inside the out. Wander went down a flight of stairs leading to a spacious area in the temple. Two identical pillars on either side of the room were also of note, not only because they appeared to be climbable, but also because a fire burned at the top of each one.

_This just keeps stranger and stranger, _Wander thought. _I mean, shouldn't those fires have burned out long ago?_

Wander used the ring-like handholds to haul himself up the pillar, shimmying around the pillar once he got to the top one. He propelled himself off, landing on a raised walkway. Going down one more flight of stairs, he entered the arena.

As soon as he stepped off the last stair, there was a loud roar. Two barred windows were in front of him; Wander walked up to one and looked down.

At the bottom of the circular, coliseum-like pit was the Colossus.

It resembled a gigantic horned-back lizard, with a wide, fan-like tail and a glowing back. White, glowing spots, reminiscent of the bottom of the second Colossus's hooves, adorned its legs. Tearing his eyes away from the monster, as it hadn't seen him, Wander examined the pit.

He was roughly three-quarters of the way up in the pit (though there didn't seem to be a way to go higher, anyway). Barred windows, like the ones he was currently looking out of, lined the walls. A set of steps leading downwards lay behind him, but he ignored them for now; he didn't want to fight the beast without getting a feel for the environment. Stealthily making his way to the right, he saw a large portion of the floor had been blown out, like a bomb had gone off.

Wander went back to the stairs and took them down, descending two floors. Now he was right above the Colossus, and it could very easily spot him. If he made one wrong move it would. Luckily, its back was turned. Wander noticed its feet left burn marks wherever it walked. He went down another flight of stairs, getting ever closer. Now only one floor above the beast, Wander was getting very nervous, his heart hammering in his chest.

Just as he passed by another hole in the wall, the Colossus whipped its head around with shocking speed. It had known Wander was there the whole time! _Oh shit, _was Wander's sole thought.

He ran for his life as the Colossus opened its maw. The lizard spat an orange bolt of energy where Wander had just stood. It impacted the wall, leaving a scorch mark, but then a cloud of pinkish-orange gas appeared. Even well away from the gas Wander could feel a burning sensation in his nostrils. _First lightning spikes, and now poison gas?_

After a short while, the gas dispersed, not that Wander noticed, he had taken off running to the other side. Finding another gaping hole in the wall, Wander put his sword away, got out his bow and opened his quiver. The Colossus turned, firing an energy bolt his way. He just barely dodged the bolt and the ensuing gas.

The lizard-beast, seeing its attack had failed, stalked its way toward the side wall, then, to Wander's amazement, began to scale it. Quick as a flash, Wander had nocked an arrow to his bow, aiming for the creature's glowing legs. The arrow buried its sharp tip in the Colossus's flesh, throwing it off balance. Wander fired again, this time at the back leg, and the Colossus tumbled off the wall, rolling off its back, exposing its furry belly.

Wander knew this was his chance. Without even bothering to hold up his sword, he raced down the stairs to the coliseum's ground floor, closing his quiver. He ran up the creature's tail onto its belly, stabbing the closest of the Major Sigils. (The creature had two; one was between its back legs, the other between its front).

As per usual, he was covered in black blood the second he pulled his blade out. Ignorant to the feeling of the liquid dripping down his face, he plunged his sword in again. The Sigil vanished. The creature squealed in agony and rage, attempting to right itself. Wander was forced to jump off the beast as it suddenly rolled over, nearly flattening him under its girth.

Running back into the coliseum, he raced back onto the first floor, ready to repeat the process. He dodged another salvo of gas, running around to the other side. Wader looked out the barred windows down at the creature as he ran. He smirked to himself. _This is too easy. _But wait… why was the Colossus facing the hole in wall he was running for?

Too late, he realized his mistake. He passed the hole in the wall right as the beast spat a bolt of energy at him. The bolt struck the edge of the floor, being more carefully aimed, leaving no time to avoid the gas.

Wander inhaled once and instantly his lungs were on fire. He fell to the ground, clutching at his throat and coughing, which inadvertently made it worse. Every time he inhaled due to his coughing, it felt like molten magma was entering his mouth, burning his esophagus and setting his lungs alight.

He covered his mouth and nose with his hand, trying to block out the gas, but it was useless. He would die here in this pit, still halfway to his goal. Halfway... a single thought entered his mind as that fact sunk in: _I have _not_ come this far to die now. _

Wander pushed himself up, coughing all the way. Walking at this point was too much to hope for, so he settled for crawling. Tears blurred his vision from the noxious fumes, but he made it out of the cloud. Drops of blood spattered his tabard as he coughed. It felt like someone had jammed a dagger down his throat and the blade was now rubbing against the inside.

Wander looked down at the Colossus through a barred window. It paced back and forth, apparently thinking it had finished its foe off. "Hey!" Wander called out, his voice hoarse and scratchy. Talking was agonizing. "We aren't done."

The Colossus turned around, letting out an enraged roar. It stomped over to the wall, climbing it. Wander practically ripped open his quiver, firing two arrows in quick succession at the creature's legs. It hissed in pain, toppling off the wall and rolling onto its back again.

Coughing up more blood, he raced to the ground floor, climbing in between the creature's front legs. "Okay, you bastard lizard," Wander rasped, "Let's see how you like this!" He stabbed down, the blood of the Colossus mingling with his own as he coughed it up. Raising his blade one last time, he stabbed down with all his fading strength. The lizard-beast squealed, squirmed, and went limp. Wander almost welcomed the tentacles as they pierced him.

* * *

**A/N: Well, who saw that coming? Everyone? Okay. Next up is... oh God, Basaran. Now, usually I'm not one to ask for reviews, but I need them here. Wish me luck. Don't expect the next chapter to come out as fast as this one. I repeat: WISH. ME. LUCK. *whimpers* I'll have to set aside an entire weekend just for this fight... **


	10. The gathering storm

**A/N: Note to all who have not played the game: The following is an added scene I came up with and does not appear in it. What _does _play is a simple cutscene in which Wander walks up to Mono and strokes her face. In other words, nothing too exciting. Besides, he got hit with poison gas last time, so he's not gonna be able to do that, now is he? Also, since this chapter exists, you may have figured out that I beat Basaran. Thanks goes out to Yami no Nokutan for wishing me luck, and it seems to have paid off. I hope you enjoy the battle, because I (surprisingly) did too! Oh, yeah, the alternate title for this chapter is The Desolation of Smog.**

* * *

**In The Shadow of the Beasts **

**_By: _Rylek196**

The Ninth: Storm Echo, Basaran

"Lord Emon!" "Lord Emon!" A soldier ran down the halls of the main temple of worship in Wander's village to where Lord Emon was giving one of his weekly teaching sessions to aspiring priests. He burst into the grandly decorated room, throwing the doors aside.

"Lord Emon!"

Emon immediately stopped with his recital of sacred texts and looked up in anger, flipping up the white, wooden, owl-like mask he wore. "What is the meaning of this?! How dare you interrupt our sermon?!"

"F-forgive the intrusion, My Lordship," the guard stammered, "But I have important news!"

Emon closed the book he held and stood. He was an old man, not particularly intimidating in height or build, but his position in the village demanded respect.

"Well?" He questioned impatiently, "What is it?"

"It is something I don't want the students hearing, My Lord." The soldier said. "If we could step outside...".

Emon sighed and rubbed his temples. Forcing himself to act calm, he addressed his students. "Keep studying, my pupils, this should not take too long."

He followed the guard out of the room while the young students began chattering amongst themselves excitedly, trying to discern what was going on.

The guard closed the doors, and Emon immediately dropped his calm facade, almost shouting, "What is it!? What matter was so important that you had to interrupt my teachings!?"

"Please, I beg your forgiveness, My Lord." The solider said. He then lowered his voice to conspiratorial whisper._ "It concerns the Ancient Sword."_

A bad feeling settled in the pit of Emon's stomach. "A-and?" He said in a rare stammer, "What of it?"

"It has gone missing!" The soldier replied.

Emon suddenly felt very, very ill. If the Ancient Sword had gone missing, and someone were to use it for... no, it was too horrible to comprehend. Snapping back to reality, Emon addressed the guard. "Come, to my library, quickly!"

The two of them ran through the halls, dashing into another room filled with shelves upon shelves of books. Emon approached a shelf, scanning the rows of books there with his eyes. When he didn't find what he was looking for though, his worry turned into full-on panic. _No..._

He turned to face the guard. "The Ancient Sword has not gone missing. It's been stolen." Emon said grimly. "The book containing a map to get to the Forbidden Lands is not here."

"Do you have any idea as to who could have done this, My Lord?" The guard enquired.

"Yes, I'm fairly certain of whom, but right now it doesn't matter." Emon replied. "Assemble a group of our best men. Tell no one but them of this. I want horses ready yesterday! We make for the Forbidden Lands!"

"But My Lordship... the book?"

"That book contained the _shortest _path to the Forbidden Lands, not the _only _one." Emon explained hurriedly. "There are other ways, but it will take far longer to get there. Now go!" "Yes My Lord!" And with that, the soldier dashed out of the room to carry out his task.

Emon stared out of a window, toward the south, where the Forbidden Lands lay. _I know who you are,_ he thought. _I don't know why you have done this, but you are a fool... Wander._

* * *

Meanwhile, miles away, the young man in question lay unconscious in the Shrine of Worship. Eight shadowy humanoids looked down upon him, while eight doves flew over head, fearful of the shadows. Farther back in the Shrine, the lizard-creature's Idol exploded. Wander was oblivious to all of this, not only because he was passed out, but also because a pleasant vision was playing in his mind.

He saw Mono, still lying on the alter where he had placed her, but then something miraculous happened. Her eyes fluttered open, she sat up on the alter. Wander could not believe his eyes. _She was alive!_

Overjoyed, he tried to run to her, but it felt like an invisible chain was looped around his waist, pulling him back. The pulling force suddenly and without warning gave a mighty yank, quickly dragging him back through the Shrine, and all he knew was darkness...

The shadows faded as Wander opened his eyes. Instantaneously, the pain hit him like a brick to the face. He coughed and choked, struggling to breathe. Drops of blood speckled the floor and his tabard as he coughed up the red substance. Once more, Dormin did not seem to care about Wander's state of being, beginning to speak.

"**Thy next foe is... The land where trees nary grow... It sleeps in a dry lake bed... A rude awakening." **

Wander wasn't listening, nor did he care. He staggered to his feet, coughing blood all the way. "Ag-!" He called, only to be cut off in a fit of coughing.

There was no denying it- his oesophagus was surely burned. His throat was fire, and he needed water _now. _Agro galloped into the Shrine, Wander ripping open the small saddlebag for the waterskin. He downed the liquid contents in all of five seconds, even though swallowing felt like swallowing a porcupine. Within a few seconds, though, the burning returned. Wander, even through the pain, realized he would need more water- much more.

_The lake,_ he thought, _I have to get to the lake. NO!_The voice in his head roared, so loud now that it was practically shouting. The voice continued its tirade as Wander mounted Agro. _You will NOT go to that lake! You WILL endure this pain like a warrior would, and you WILL face the Colossus! _

But Wander wasn't listening to the voice. As soon as he exited the Shrine of Worship, the voice went silent. In too much agony to care, Wander made his way to the lake. The next few minutes were the longest he had ever had to endure. Nearly unable to guide Agro on his own, he had to trust the horse's intuition to get him to the lake.

Crossing the land bridge was an excruciating waiting game. Because of his condition, it felt like the fairly short bridge went on for miles. As he entered the lake path, the dryness and pain in Wander's throat increased tenfold. Agro couldn't get there fast enough; it seemed to Wander she was going in slow-motion or even running backwards.

Finally though, Agro made it to the lake. Wander simply fell off of Agro's saddle, landing on his back, unable to dismount properly. By some miracle, neither his bow nor any of his remaining arrows broke. Rolling over, Wander began dragging himself to the lake, desperate to get to it. As he crawled, the agony in his throat only increased to an unbearable level, as did the amount of blood spilling out of his mouth from his coughing.

Finally managing to haul himself to shoreline, he forsook using his hands and instead plunged his face into the cold water. Opening his mouth underwater, he allowed as much of the liquid relief to wash over him as possible. His pain temporarily abated, Wander pulled his head out of the water, his face and bangs dripping wet. Agro came over and lay down to Wander something to lean against. Wander did just that, resting his head against her side.

"What are we going to do Agro?" He wheezed. "What are we going to do..?"

* * *

The next five days crawled by like a snail wearing a ten-ton weight as its shell. During this time, Wander could do nothing but wait and recover. He drank the lake water constantly, eating very little.

Swallowing lizard meat was extremely painful, and the effort needed just to cut off tree branches for firewood left him gasping for breath and exhausted. There was no getting around it- he now had asthma. _And this will make climbing the Colossi that much harder, _he thought miserably.

His reflection in the water also haunted him each time he went for a drink. His skin was very pale, he swore his hair was darker, and subtle arterial lines had begun to appear on his face.

And all the while, the pillar of light pierced the sky, in plain view, as if looking down upon him, mocking him.

The days slowly passed, Wander's burned throat healing with the hours going by, not that his asthma got any better. In addition, his voice became much more hoarse and scratchy.

_What did I say at the beginning of this? _He thought. _That this would be easy? How damn stupid and naive was I to say that?!_

* * *

Eventually, on the morning of the fifth day, Wander felt he had healed enough to to set out. After a tasty-yet-painful-to-swallow breakfast of lizard meat washed down with lake water, he filled his waterskin, and mounted Agro.

He exited the misty lake path, out into the shining morning sun. Weather seemed to be a non-issue in the Forbidden Lands; it hadn't rained at all during the five days Wander had stayed at the lake. Holding up his sword, he soon found where the beam wanted him to go- west. There was a problem with this though- the beam pointed at a giant, grey cloud of smog or smoke in the distance. _Great._

Wander braced himself, then spurred Agro on. Up until he entered the cloud, the ride was fairly pleasant. Sandy terrain gave way to grassy plains, and turning his head to the south, he saw a mind-map shrine. Regretfully though, Wander kept going, as this one really _was _too far out of his way, unlike the last one.

Once he entered the smoke cloud, however, the relatively good ride turned sour. Wander's still-tender throat began to burn as he inhaled the thick, smoggy air. He slowed Agro to a walk when he started coughing.

It was a good thing he did, because just ahead of the pair was a small but deep chasm. It wasn't very wide across, but Wander didn't want to chance jumping it. Holding one hand over his mouth, Wander turned Agro to the left, hoping to find a way across. He did in the form of a short natural bridge, leading to a blasted, almost volcanic-looking area. This was the 'dried lake bed' Dormin had spoke of in his clue, but in his haste to get to the lake, Wander hadn't been paying attention.

Four geysers, placed in a rough square, spewed piping hot water up from the depths of the earth thirty feet in the air. Wander let out a violent series of painful coughs. _Damn it, _he thought,_ this smog is starting to get to me._

Wasting no more time, Wander held his sword up. The beam was weak, but it got the job done, pointing to a massive cave in front of him. Several dead trees were scattered near the entrance.

Riding up to the cave's entrance, Wander pulled Agro to a stop when the ground shook. Huge stones fell from the cave's roof, throwing up a barrier of dust that blocked Wander's view. When it cleared, though, the Colossus emerged. The sight stole what little breath he still had left away.

This time, the Colossus was a massive tortoise-like abomination, with four legs recalling that of a tarantula, and a mountainous shell. Wander immediately turned Agro around, spurring her into a full-on sprint. He turned his head as the beast raised its head. Four spots under the creature's chin began glowing yellow.

Knowing what was undoubtedly coming next, Wander tugged on the reins, steering Agro to the right. Right after he did this, the monster shot five bolts of electrical energy at blinding speed where horse and rider just were. The bolts struck the ground with earth-shaking force.

The Colossus began to lumber out of its cave, felling the trees simply by walking into them. It launched another salvo of energy bolts, which Wander and Agro barely dodged.

Wander knew he had to find some way to defeat the monster, and he had to find it fast. There was no cover in the geyser field- it was completely flat. By now, the beast was fully out of its cave and advancing on the lake bed.

_Could its tail be where I grab on..? _Wander mentally questioned.

He raced to the back of the Colossus on Agro, only to find nothing on the creature's backside but a leathery, and quite furless, tail. Cursing, he rode underneath the beast just as it reared up onto its back legs.

"Whoa!" He cleared the underside of the beast just as it slammed back down, shaking and cratering the ground. The impact threw up a cloud of dust, some of which Wander breathed in. He began coughing and hacking, so much so that he nearly missed Dormin's voice in his head giving him a hint.

_**The power of the earth shall shake even a Colossus...**_

_What..? _Riding out of the now-clearing dust cloud, Wander saw what Dormin was referring to just as it activated: a geyser. Thinking back to moments ago when he had been riding underneath the beast, he remembered its underbelly was furry.

_So, I've got to lure this thing onto a geyser as it sprays, and use the water pressure to flip it? _

Luckily, the Colossus was near a geyser, but luring it on top of it was much, _much_ easier said than done. It took twenty minuets of circling, dodging energy blasts, and aggressive coaxing to get the Colossus onto a geyser hole, and all the while, Wander's breath grew shorter and shorter.

Then, in one of the most spectacular thing he had ever seen, the geyser activated, hitting the Colossus square on its underbelly. The beast was actually partially lifted off the ground, suspended on its right legs by the sheer force of the water. Something was wrong, though. The beast didn't flip; it just stayed there, hanging in between sure footing and falling.

Desperate, Wander rode over on Agro, dismounting when he got to the Colossus. He saw the problem instantly: two glowing spots on the creature's 'ankles'. Snarling, he took his bow off his back, opened his quiver and shot the weak points. This proved to be the final bit of coaxing needed to finally flip the monster onto its side. With an almighty BOOM, the Colossus crashed over onto its right side, exposing its climbable furry belly.

Wander put his bow away and mounted Agro, riding her around the beast. He jumped from the saddle, getting a grip on the waterproof fur, and started to climb.

However, with his new case of asthma, Wander found it more difficult than ever before to scale the living mountain. He did his best to push past the tightness building in his chest, but he had to stop and take breaks simply to get his breath back. Worse, the Colossus's constant shifting told him it wouldn't stay on its side forever, and he had to hurry.

He made it to the lip of the shell as the beast flipped itself over. Hauling himself onto the edge, Wander made his way to the middle of the shell. It had two side walls, and a middle path, like a canyon, it was so big.

Unfortunately, there was no fur to grab onto on the shell, so when the Colossus shook, Wander was upended, falling forwards. He waited for the beast to quit its thrashing before he moved on. He didn't bother holding up his sword- the Sigil was obviously on the creature's head.

Sure enough, the Major Sigil lit up when he got close to the head. A small patch of fur adorned the beast's head, and it was here that the Sigil was located. Wander raised his blade and stabbed the glowing mark. The Colossus roared in pain, throwing its head back, trying to buck Wander off. Wander held fast, stabbing again when the monster had settled. His shortness of breath was starting to make him feel lightheaded and dizzy, but he tried to fight that as best he could.

The Colossus grew desperate on the third stab, tossing its head side to side and back, to no avail. Wander, despite everything thrown against him- his asthma, the situation, and the thrashing- was holding on. Covered in black blood, he stabbed down, and it was over. The Colossus's eyes went blank, and its front legs gave out, bringing it crashing to the ground.

Coughing, Wander just waited for the tentacles. The black shroud covered the body, and they stabbed into him, his body going numb. Still on the head of the creature he had just slain, Wander collapsed unconscious. He saw the white light, and the faint voice was back again. "Ro... da..."

* * *

**A/N: Don't ask me what the hell Mono was trying to say there. Maybe she was trying to Fus-Ro-Da and failing, lol. Anyways, I not only had to do this battle in the game once, I had to do it TWICE, on separate files. Basaran was surprisingly cooperative on the second file, and (I kid you not) actually WALKED RIGHT ONTO A GEYSER ACCIDENTALLY! I didn't plan on this happening, (then again... I never plan any of these fights) so I had to adapt the chapter accordingly. I hope you like it regardless! Next time: Its gaze upon thee, Dirge!**


	11. Its gaze upon thee

**A/N: Well, it took a while, but here it is, the Dirge battle! As for WHY it took so long, I can only blame my recent re-addiction to Pokemon. On an unrelated note, I finally decided to check my traffic stats for the story, and I see people from GREECE are reading it!? Wow. *rubs back of neck* Getting international readers... that's actually really humbling. As small as it may be now, I want to thank my audience, and I hope you'll stick with me all the way to the end! Enjoy! :) (And before I forget, listen to A Messenger From Behind during the battle ). **

**In The Shadow of the Beasts**

_By:_ Rylek196

The Tenth: Sand Tiger, Dirge

No visions assaulted Wander's mind as he lay unconscious in Dormin's light in the Shrine of Worship. In the world of the waking, nine shadows looked down at him. As always, the Idol of the most recently killed Colossus exploded, the the noise rousing Wander. Coughing painfully once or twice, he pushed himself to his feet, rubbing his abused throat. He looked up at Dormin's light, the being starting to speak.

"**Thy next foe is... An isolated sand dune... Its tracks are well hidden... Shaking the earth, its gaze is upon thee..." **

Wander didn't like the almost ominous tone in Dormin's voice. Nevertheless, he had a quest to complete. Forcing down his fear, he called- or at least tried to call- for Agro, his sore, dry throat keeping him from yelling very loudly. It didn't matter, Agro heard him anyways, running up the steps into the Shrine.

Wander took his waterskin out of her saddlebag, drinking the whole thing. Due to his burned throat, water was more vital than ever. He knew he would need more before setting out.

Wander made a quick stop at the lake to refill the waterskin. While doing this, he noticed the sorry state his clothing was in in his reflection. The tears along the bottom edges of his tabard had gotten bigger, the blood of the Colossi had darkened it, and, taking off the tabard completely, he saw a large black stain on the stomach area of his tunic. "These battles sure are taking their toll," Wander sighed.

Having finished filling his waterskin, he put his tabard back on, mounted Agro, and went out into the Forbidden Lands to find the next Colossus.

Holding up his sword, he found the beam pointed the same direction it had last time- west. Unfortunately, that meant having to go through, or at least near, the smog cloud again.

_At least I won't have to fight a Colossus in that cloud this time, _Wander thought, trying to think positively. At this point, positive thoughts were some of the only things he had left. He allowed his gaze to roam around, until his eyes fell on the mind-map shrine he had ignored last time. Wander snapped his fingers. "That's it!" He said.

Spurring Agro into a run, he made straight for the shrine. Kneeling and praying before it, another part of the Forbidden Lands terrain was etched into his brain. Much to his dismay, however, he saw no way completely around the cloud; he would be going through the outer edges of it.

Getting back in the saddle, Wander led Agro down the hill the shrine was on, backtracking a bit to get around it on more level ground. He soon entered the smog cloud, and just as quickly felt his throat begin to burn. Coughing, he forced himself to keep riding, holding his breath, telling himself he would be out of it soon... and then he was.

Coughing and hacking, he pulled Agro to a stop as a precaution, then dismounted her to get the waterskin. Wander drank almost half of it without rea ally meaning to. Cursing his gluttony- as necessary as it was- he replaced the cap and put it back in the saddlebag. Agro then suddenly whinnied in excitement, tossing her head up and down, trying to point Wander in a specific direction. Following her gaze, Wander saw what she wanted him to look at.

It was a fruit-tree, standing some distance south , but not so far as to be out of their way. Wander patted his horse's neck. "Good eyes, girl."

Re-mounting her, they sped toward the the tree. In less than six minuets, they had arrived at it. Examining the thick moss growing on the bark of the tree, making it climbable, Wander sighed. He didn't want to push himself, but then, the ninth Colossus's stomach was easily three times the height of the tree.

Before climbing the tree, Wander momentarily considered shooting the fruit down with arrows, but he didn't want to waste his remaining ammunition. With no other choice, he began scaling the moss, taking a second to catch his breath once he got to the top. Shaking the branches, the five pieces of fruit that grew on the tree fell to the ground. Wander watched them as they fell, hitting the ground with _thuds_.

However, once he got to the ground and walked around to the front of the tree, he found Agro already devouring a piece! "Agro, no!" Wander cried, gathering up the rest before his horse ate it all. Agro whined in dismay. Wander looked down at the fruits in his arms, then at the seemingly distraught look on Agro's face, then then back to the fruits. Putting two and two together, he smirked. "You clever horse...".

Agro had tricked him into climbing the tree to get the fruits for her to eat. "Alright," Wander relented, "You can have some, but I need to eat too, so we'll share, okay?"

He hand-fed her another fruit, ate two for himself, then cut the last one in half. Having eaten their fill, the pair took off. Going left around the rocky hill the the tree was nestled against, Wander saw yet _another _fruit-tree. There were only two fruits growing on this one, so he let Agro have both of them.

After more travel to the west, across grassy terrain dotted with more rocky hills, Wander and Agro found themselves in a wide, C-shaped canyon of sorts. The light beam from Wander's sword pointed at the north, which was a rock wall, and therefore a dead end. A little more searching revealed a mind-map shrine, and just beyond that, the entrance to a cave leading into a rock face.

Just looking at the cave gave Wander a bad feeling, but he used the shrine all the same. He used his mental map to discern that the cave led into a linear tunnel that was the entrance to a massive cavern with a floor made of sand.

The cavern was empty, according to his map, but that did nothing to ease his nervousness. Still, he didn't have much choice but to go into the cave if he wanted to complete this gruelling journey. Trying to get a hold of his rapid heartbeat, he mounted his steed and rode into the tunnel. Bats flew over his head as he advanced further into the tunnel, emerging in the cavern.

A huge hole in the centre of the roof let sunlight in, and four natural stone pillars, possibly stalactites that had fallen ages ago, were placed around the hole. Wander made his way to the centre of the cavern, when the ground shook. The Colossus had been awakened.

The sand began shifting not thirty feet from where he was. Seconds later, a massive, serpentine form, easily two-hundred-sixty feet long, arched out of the sand before sinking back in again. The creature moved through the gritty substance like it was water, twisting around the one of the stone pillars before diving out like a dolphin. The snake-creature kept moving, smashing one of the smaller boulders dotting the ground just by brushing against it. The Colossus then turned, making straight for Wander and Agro.

"Agro," Wander said with fear lacing his tone, "Move. NOW!" When his steed did nothing- evidently, she was just as scared as he was- Wander snapped the reins and kicked her sides hard. Agro reared up on her hind legs, then took off like a shot, the beast right behind her.

Wander looked over his shoulder at the monster as it chased him and promptly screamed at the sight. The Colossus' eyes were open, glaring at him. They were huge, twice the size of waggon wheels, and they glowed a demonic, hellfire orange that pierced his very soul.

The beast popped its body below the surface, preparing to lunge at Wander. He savagely yanked the reins to the right; Agro whinnied in pain, but obeyed. The monster leaped gracefully out of the sand, opening its glowing white maw. Wander and Agro were out of the way of the attack, but if Wander ever was too late in steering Agro, they would be eaten.

When the creature landed, it turned around, beginning to chase Agro again. Even as Agro ran for all she was worth, Wander kept his gaze locked on the Colossus as it thundered after them. He turned his attention back to the front just in time to keep Agro from crashing into a wall.

The chase went on for half an hour, Wander pushing Agro as hard as he could, more focused on staying alive then defeating the Colossus. At one point, he got too wrapped up in focusing on the Colossus, he forgot to pay attention to what was in front of him. Wander turned his head to see he was headed right for a pillar. It was too late to stop, Agro crashed headlong into the rock, rearing up in pain and throwing Wander from the saddle, then ran off. Thankfully, the Colossus was forced to abort its jump attack to avoid sharing the same fate.

Wander got up, hearing Dormin's voice give him a less-than-helpful hint as he did so.

_**Thy legs cannot possibly carry thee away from its danger...**_

_Thank you so much, Dormin, I DIDN'T KNOW! _Wander shot back mentally, even though he knew Dormin likely couldn't read his thoughts. Realization struck him like a lightning bolt as soon as that thought was finished.

_Wait, Dormin! That's it! Now what was his clue at the Shrine again..? _

By now, the beast was coming around, hoping to ram Wander to kill him. Wander ran for his life, dive-rolling out of the way so the monster slammed into the pillar. Calling for Agro while the Colossus was temporarily stunned, he mounted her, the horse not seeming to have gotten any injuries in her collision with the pillar.

Agro took off, the Colossus shaking off its daze and starting the chase anew. Wander frantically tried to recall what Dormin had said in the Shrine of Worship, all the while trying to steer Agro, _and_ keep his eye on the beast, lest it jump again.

He looked back at the Colossus. Its head was partially above the sand as it moved, its hellspawn eyes again seeming to pierce his soul. In that moment, though, he remembered what Dormin had said. "Its gaze upon thee...", he said softly. The eyes were the creature's weak points. The Colossus jumped, Wander and Agro dodging by the skin of their teeth.

The beast turned around, coming back, but Wander was ready and knew what to do. It would be tricky, but he had a little experience in the skill. Horseback archery was one of the tests you had to pass to join the archery division of the village militia. Wander had passed with flying colours, only missing one of fifteen targets; the second-best in his class.

Wander sheathed his sword, turned Agro around so the Colossus was chasing them again, and pulled out his bow. He made sure Agro was running top speed, then turned to face the Colossus. He let fly an arrow, hitting the monster right in one of its damnable eyes. The monster shrieked in pain. Blind in its right eye, it swerved crazily to the left, corkscrewing until it ran headfirst into a wall.

Most of its furry back remained arched above sand, allowing Wander to ride over and jump onto it. Putting away his bow, he pulled out his sword. The Sigil appeared square in the centre of the creature's back when he got close. The beast writhed as he readied the stab, screeching when the cold steel was plunged into its spine. Wander wiped the black blood off his face after he pulled his sword from the wound. He stabbed again, the Colossus letting out another high-pitched screech, and it vanished.

Immediately jumping off the monster as it dislodged itself from the wall, Wander mounted Agro and pulled out his bow. The now enraged Colossus turned, coming at them, faster this time. Wander spurred Agro into a sprint, the tired horse doing her best to outpace the beast, but it was clear she couldn't keep going for very much longer.

When the beast raised its head, Wander fired again, and missed. Unable to grab the reins in time, Wander simply shouted, "Agro, _turn_!" To his relief, she did, but the creature's jump was too close, the resulting wave of sand buffeting Agro and nearly knocking Wander from the saddle. He managed to right himself, shaking his head.

The Colossus swerved around, determined to kill the intruders to its territory. It chased Agro, the severely fatigued horse panting for breath by now, and raised its head.

This time, Wander was successful in hitting it in the eye. Now totally blind, the monster veered right into a wall. Wander jumped off Agro onto the Colossus, climbing past where the first Sigil was, to the back of the creature's neck. A Sigil illuminated itself there as soon he unsheathed his sword. The beast could only squirm and roar helplessly as the blade was plunged into it. Wander pulled the sword out, ignoring the black blood that covered him, and drove it back in with all his might.

The beast screeched, but being blinded, there was little it could do to prevent its inevitable demise. And its demise did come, in the form of Wander stabbing it one more time. The beast's squirming came to an end, it arched form collapsing to the sand.

Wander stepped off the corpse, his heavy breathing scratching at his sensitive throat. The shroud of black covered the body of the Colossus, the tentacles stabbing into him. Wander felt his body go numb, and he dropped to his knees, unconscious before he hit the ground.

**A/N: Damn. Lemme tell ya, that was a really tough battle to write out while trying to play the game. Anyways, next time is a very small Colossus. In fact, I don't even think it has the right to be called 'colossal'. So yeah, pretty unusual battle, both in the size of the boss, and (in the case of this story), the time it takes place. That's right: the next battle is one of only two in the entire story to take place at night. Again, sorry this took so long, but no promises the next one will be out any faster. **


End file.
